Churches back calls for release of abused detainee children

Following today’s release of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s damning finding of Federal Government responsibility for cases of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detained asylum seeker children, the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) has backed the Commission’s one-month deadline for the release of all children and their families.

Based on evidence from the Immigration Department's own court-subpoenaed documents, the Commission’s report of the Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention details gross government failures to protect children during violent protests when the riot squad, tear gas, water canons and severe lock-down procedures were deployed.

It exposes disturbing cases of repeat child-suicide and self-mutilation attempts, and children witnessing their parents jumping from roof tops onto razor wire and slashing and hanging themselves.

Responsibility for severe child-detainee mental health breakdown is placed squarely on the Federal Government, which failed to heed the consistent advice of medical and psychiatric professionals to use its powers to either release or protect children.

Following the Commission’s findings, churches have backed the Commission’s call to abolish mandatory detention laws and are counting-down to the June 10 deadline for the release of all children and their family members.

“Australia is committed to acting in the best interests of every child. Yet every day that passes is another day in which parents are unable to shield their children from the violence around them, from the heated protests and suicide attempts, from the despair of those detained, from the dehumanising effect of being treated as an illegal or a number,” said John Henderson, General Secretary of the NCCA.

“With every day, the will and resilience of parents to protect and raise their children is broken down. They cannot tell their child when they will be released or deny they'll be deported."

Mr Henderson said, “At the end of each day, we must ask ourselves whether the pain and suffering inflicted upon mothers, fathers and their children is a just trade-off in attempting to deter people from our shores.”

James Thomson of the NCCA's Refugee Program said, “There is no point keeping innocent kids in detention to ward-off refugee-boats when Australia has a naval blockade. Moreover, there is no reason to think they'll abscond, as 95% are found to be refugees and will be given a visa despite the trauma they suffer.

"If parents exposed their child to violence protests, adults attempting suicide by hanging and slashing or failed to provide adequate education or a safe place to live, we would remove those children and consider prosecuting the parents. It is shocking to think we've had to have a three-year inquiry to tell us the obvious. Well now we know that locking up kids under the mantra of 'border protection' is wrong."

Mr Thomson said, "These are refugee children who have often experienced horrific torture and subsequent trauma. Many have been made to witness the rape, torture and killings of their parents, brothers or sisters. They are extremely vulnerable, and to detain them is simply cruel."

At present, all unauthorised asylum seekers are subject to indefinite, non-reviewable mandatory detention. No distinction is made between adults and children.

The NCCA has long-criticised this law for breaching Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that the detention of a child shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time.

The report’s findings confirm that Australia's automatic detention system is neither a measure of last report nor for the shortest possible period of time and thus breaches one of the most widely signed international Conventions. Every child has spent an average of one year and five months in detention with the longest period being over 5 years.

The Government has the power to release children on bridging visas, but refuses to release parents. This ‘catch’ keeps children in detention as it is claimed it is 'in the best interests of the child' not to be separated from their parents and placed into foster care.

Responding to the report's finding, the NCCA calls on the government to:

• immediately release all children and their families from immigration detention in Australia and Nauru;
• establish and fund appropriate care and support services for children once out of detention;
• undertake wholesale legislative reform of the Migration Act (1958) to remove the requirement of automatic detention of children who arrive in Australia without the correct documents.

In one expert study of 20 asylum seeker children in detention submitted to the Inquiry by the South Australian Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, it was found that:

• Every single child had seen an adult self-harm, often their own parents.
• Every single child had a parent with a major psychiatric illness, and

Of the Children between 6 and 17 years of age, it found that:

• All reported thoughts of self-harm
• 80% had acted on these impulses
• 70% had anxiety disorders
• 50% had persistent severe somatic symptoms, particularly headaches and abdominal pains

Of the Children under 5 years of age, it found that:

• 50% showed delayed language and social development
• 30% had marked disturbances in behaviour and interaction with parents
• 30% were diagnosed with severe parent-child relationship problems, particularly separation anxiety and oppositional behaviour.

National Council of Churches in Australia: Anglican Church of Australia - Antiochian Orthodox Church - Armenian Apostolic Church - Assyrian Church of the East - Churches of Christ - Congregational Federation of Australia - Coptic Orthodox Church - Greek Orthodox Church - Lutheran Church of Australia - Religious Society of Friends - Roman Catholic Church - Romanian Orthodox Church - Salvation Army - Syrian Orthodox Church - Uniting Church in Australia