Detention arrangements

The Armidale Independent - 6 September 2002

Dear Sir/Madam

Many statements in the Letter to the Editor in the Armidale Independent ('Ruddock's refugee waiting game over', 29 August 2002) require correction.

A Migration Program of 93,080 places and a Humanitarian Program of 13,733 last year is hardly a 'closed door'.

Secondly, Australia does not detain refugees. Once a person is determined to be a refugee and have undergone health and character checks, they are released immediately as is required by law.

And finally, alternative detention arrangements for some women and children detained at the Woomera IRPC in South Australia, have been established by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) since 7 August 2001.

The Project enables some women and their children to live in family-style accommodation away from the IRPC, while remaining in immigration detention.

Participants in the project are under 24-hour supervision by officers from Australasian Correctional Management and any movements outside the perimeter of the house and yard are accompanied by an officer.

The project is limited to a maximum of 25 people and those eligible include: women with children who have a family member remaining at the Woomera IRPC; their female children of any age; and their male children 12 years of age and under.

Following the success of the trial, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Philip Ruddock, asked the department to explore the viability of extending the alternative detention arrangements and expanding the criteria for eligibility for women and children.

This means that women and children are eligible for participation in the project while they have an active application before the department and while their cases are being considered by the Refugee Review Tribunal or the Courts.

Participants must be volunteers and they must be approved as posing no character or management risks. Only those volunteers who have undergone health assessments are eligible to participate in the project.

The Minister has also given approval for assessments to be done on a case by case basis, which would include special needs cases and those who are vulnerable or at risk and who could otherwise not be accommodated appropriately in an immigration detention facility.

Roger Wheatley
Acting Director, Public Affairs
Dept of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs