Woomera Refugees' Day in Court, Adelaide, 31 May 2002


Between 1 July 2001 and 12 April 2002 nearly 2000 people have been incarcerated at the Woomera Detention Centre, including 607 minors. Community protests at Woomera over Easter highlighted the Federal Government's draconian detention policies and the concentration camp conditions in the "centres". During the protests 30 refugees escaped and were subsequently recaptured, with a fortunate 10 still at large. On 31 May, the first of these asylum seekers who have been charged by the Australian Commonwealth Government for being unlawfully at large under the Immigration Act 197a appeared in Courtroom 3 of the Adelaide Magistrates Court.

The 8 men, 6 from Afghanistan, and 2 from Iran, have spent the last few weeks detained in Port Hedland, Western Australia following their arrest in South Australia. They were transported to the Detention Centre at Woomera (a remote desert location 5 hours north of Adelaide by car) just prior to last Friday's court hearing. They were then handcuffed and transported to Adelaide and kept at the Adelaide Watchhouse in an area that had been rented by ACM (Australian Correctional Management, now a subsidiary of Group 4 Falck, the world's second largest security services provider following its acquistiton of Wackenhut Corp in March 2002) as a kind of TDZ - temporary detention zone (as opposed to a TAZ- temporary autonomous zone) for the duration of their stay in Adelaide. This is because they are actually released on bail in relation to the charges laid by the Commonwealth Government, and so the South Australian police have no jurisdiction over the men. Yesterday the refugees' lawyers and interpreters spent 5 hours with them in at the Adelaide Watchhouse. In true ACM tradition (let's have a big round of applause for the "out-sourcing" of prisons and detention centres) the men have not been allowed tea or coffee or cigarettes in the watch house.

A small group of people who wished to express solidarity with the refugees were not able to attend the hearing of the first group as we had been advised by the Sheriff's Officer that it was a closed hearing. Personally I think he had been disinformed by powers above as he seemed pretty cool. We milled about anyway in the foyer of the courthouse exchanging stories and information. One of the group of supporters, X, had a very joyful demeanour, as he had been released only 6 days previously on a 3 year Temporary Protection Visa after spending 14 months in the hell-hole at Woomera. X was wanting very much to be able to see his friends and for them to know that he was there for them. I spent some time talking with him, and with one of the interpreters, who had recently spent an intense 6 months working at Woomera in relation to her studies in pyschology and suicide. Before the hearing of the second group of men the refugees' lawyer emerged from the courtroom and explained to us that it was not a closed hearing and we were free to attend. So we were able to witness the second hearing in the very pokey courtroom, only seating for about 20 people.

The group were represented by a lawyer, and assisted by 2 interpreters, one speaking Persian Dari (for the Afghanis), and one speaking Persian (Farsi), for the Iranians. The defending lawyer explained via the the interpreters that they were awaiting a legal decision on people who escaped last year. As the outcome of that decision will affect the trial of the refugees' matters the refugees had agreed to a postponement of their trial. The refugees have bail on these charges so they are not being held by the Commonwealth or the Police in relation to those charges. They are still in immigration detention. If they are released from the Detention Centre they will not be detained on the charges of being unlawfully at large, however they will have to face those charges in court. The bail conditions have been changed so that the refugees can remain in South Australia so they can give instructions to their lawyer which was virtually impossible whilst they were being held in WA. They will be kept at Woomera until at least 22 June. After that date they may go back to WA or stay in SA, depending on the court's ruling.

The prosecutor confirmed these details, adding that the men were remanded on bail until August 29. The magistrate set the date of their next court appearance as 10am on 29 August. He instructed the men that it was important that they keep in touch with their lawyer so that she could assist them with their case.

As they were escorted from the courtroom the men smiled and waved (as best they could considering the handcuffs they were each wearing) at the group of supporters This moment burnt immediately into my heart, those four faces, the emotions contained in a glance that becomes a gaze towards a possible new world, the world that drew each of them to undertake such dangerous journeys across the oceans to Australia.

Australia is the only Western country which has a non-reviewable mandatory detention policy for refugees who enter the country without immigration papers. According to a submission prepared in April 2002 by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMA) to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention "immigration detention is an important element of [the] overall approach to the integrity of Australia’s entry arrangements."

A curious irony perhaps already lost somewhere in the pages of the nation's colonial history, pages so sticky with the blood, slavery, exploitation and dispossesion (some argue genocide) of the Indigenous peoples that they only evoke a blank stare or a furious denial from the reader. After all, this is the country of mateship and "a fair go".

DIMA follows the same trajectory of wilful amnesia as to do otherwise would require firstly that the systemic brutal injustices of past 214 years be properly acknowledged, and secondly that a vision and a political will to create an inclusive and equitable future for all citizens and new-comers be allowed to flower. But there's not much rain in the desert right now, just despair wrapped in barbed wire.

"Australia’s policy of detention is non-discriminatory and applies to all unlawful noncitizens regardless of race, origin or any other characteristic. Detention is the result of being in Australia unlawfully, not the seeking of asylum [although] most unauthorised arrivals ... do subsequently apply for asylum...". Perhaps not surprisingly "the three main countries of nationality of people currently in immigration detention as at 12 April 2002 were Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq." Currently there are 158 men, 39 women, 36 male children and 25 female children imprisoned at Woomera.

Contrary to the populist spin of cashed up "queue-jumpers", 97% of applicants from Iraq and 93% of applicants from Afghanistan seeking asylum without valid visas in Australia in 1999 were recognised as genuine refugees and therefore were eligible to stay in Australia. Generally, 84% of all asylum seekers are found to be legitimate refugees and are able to stay in Australia.

X and I accompanied the lawyer and one of the translators back to the Adelaide Watchhouse who were returning for post-trial conference with the refugees. We sit outside underneath the surveillance camera and talk (at one point a voice echoes out from the gaol to me "nice smile" which gets me thinking that maybe there is a microphone out here also, it feels so 1984). X tells me that for the first 8 months of his detention in Woomera he had been unable to contact his family back in Iran so they did not know whether he was alive or had perished in a boat. He tells me of his friends inside, a woman with 2 young children who has made serious suicide attempts, her pain and desperation. He is very worried for her. The cruelties. When X was finally granted his Temporary Protection Visa he was only given 20 minutes to pack his things and leave. No chance to say goodbye to the many friends he had made in the fourteen months of his life he had been unjustly incarcerated. No chance to have a shower and change. No signs of humanity from the dogs guarding the exit from Hell.

The interpreter emerged after an hour or so and told us that the refugees really appreciated the presence of supporters in the court. We have also heard via the detained refugees that the recent inspection of the Woomera Detention Centre by representatives of the United Nations Human Rights Commission was a 'success' in so far as the recent paint job and planted trees fooled no-one, and that the inspectors spent many hours talking directly with refugees. The following day a friend tells me the word was that the inspectors had talked with every single detainee.


The next hearing will be at 9.30am on Friday June 7 at the Adelaide Magistrates Court (Cnr King William and Angas Streets, Adelaide) and it would be fantastic to have more people there again in solidarity with the refugees. To remain silent and invisible is to be complicit with the Power. So c'mon Adelaide, this shameful and cruel treatment of refugees is happening in our own backyard, show that you care!




PS. Messages of solidarity will be passed on to the asylum seekers in Woomera. The people there are living in an extremely harsh and geographically remote environment, and signs that their voices are being heard from around the world will make a difference. According to an ABC Radio National special broadcast on 1 June, 145 children are incarcerated in detention centres on the Australian mainland, and 15 unaccompanied minors are in foster care. A further 376 children are living in detention centres on Nauru and Christmas Islands as part of the Federal Government's "Pacific Solution". Australia is a signatory to the 1989 United Nations Convention on the rights of children.


PPS. Letters from refugees at Woomera are posted online at:  http://www.adelaide.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=2611&group=webcast

The DIMA report can be downloaded from:
 http://www.immi.gov.au/illegals/hreoc