The corporate media is hopeless. Here’s a feature in today’s Australian newspaper about Christmas Island, the increasing crisis of refugees being overcrowded and residents getting upset over it all.
But there’s no mention at all of Serco, the British multinational running the place, a firm integral to the institution.
Not good enough:
An Amnesty International report in December last year, written when there were only 1400 detainees on the island, criticised the “prison-like character” of the detention centre and the conditions in which the detainees were held.
It also found that the island was “simply not well placed to accommodate the needs of a large immigration operation”.
“Community representatives are worried about whether the island’s water will be affected, whether the sewerage system will hold up and the increasing cost of food and rent.”
With the island detainee population having doubled since the report was written, these concerns have become only more pronounced.