Canberra wants to look tough on refugees while privatised care dehumanises all

It’s a sad sight seeing Immigration Minister Chris Bowen talking about punishing asylum seekers for his own government’s mistakes. Any chance he’d like to examine why so many refugees are suffering prolonged mental trauma under his care? Of course not.

With an ongoing protest around Curtin detention centre in Western Australia, activists on the ground there report on what Serco have been doing and it ain’t pretty:

A few of us had assisted with legal visits and were able to see the conditions of the camp and the dispair of those unjustly detained without charge or trial. Shipping containers are being used to house the latest arrivals with more empty ones being preparred. As if that atrocity was not enough we can confirm an even more repulsive practice is now firmly entrenched : Serco guards referring to people, to humans, to fathers, brothers, sons, by number and not by name.

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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