Posted on 12/16/2002 2:16:37 PM PST by knighthawk
Remeber the protests of Austalian liberals who whined that the people in the detention center were treated so bad they even stormed the camps to help them escape.
Well, here is the shocking truth about how 'bad' it is in such a camp.
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CONDEMNED by their critics as concentration camps, Australia's detention centres are providing asylum seekers with everything from DVDs and pay-TV to classes in yoga, flower-arranging and driver education.
For the first time, The Daily Telegraph can today reveal full details of the services, amenities and recreational facilities provided at the nation's seven detention centres.
The information comes from Immigration Department documents forwarded last week to a parliamentary standing committee on human rights, which is investigating the standard of care inside the centres.
The document shows how the Federal Government – stung by criticism of the detention centres amid riots, hunger strikes, escapes and self-mutilation – has redoubled its efforts to keep the asylum seekers happy.
At a total cost to taxpayers of $110 a day for each detainee, the 1326 people currently in detention have an ever-increasing range of services and programs.
Total cost to taxpayers stands at about $2 million a week, from the Commonwealth allocation of $1.2 billion for border protection in this year's Federal Budget for the next four years.
At each of the seven centres – Villawood (NSW), Baxter and Woomera (SA), Port Hedland and Perth (WA), Maribyrnong (Vic) and Christmas Island – the provision of facilities such as VCRs and DVDs has increased since riots made headlines earlier this year.
At some centres, a minimum of up to 25 different films must be hired each week, with specific attention paid to Sri Lankan, Hindi, Farsi and Iranian movie titles.
Foxtel has been installed 24 hours at some centres and the number of Sony PlayStations, Nintendos and personal stereos and portable hi-fi systems has increased.
Gymnasium and sporting facilities have increased, with every detention centre having a fully-equipped gymnasium including full sets of weights and, in some cases, rowing and walking machines.
Pool and snooker tables are also provided, as well as sports ranging from badminton and volleyball to soccer, league, Aussie Rules and cricket. The asylum seekers also enjoy a higher degree of freedom of movement than has often been claimed, with Villawood child detainees enjoying day trips to Taronga Zoo, and the Woomera detainees going on visits to the township to swim and shop.
Special attention is also paid to education, with some centres having as few as two children under the age of five, but daily kindergarten classes still being held.
There is an increased focus on vocational training for adult and teenage detainees, with special classes at Woomera in driver education, valuable job skills in computing and information technology, and for female detainees, special life skills classes on domestic budgeting and child behavior management.
The document only details entertainment facilities and services provided by the taxpayers, and not by the private company which runs the centres, Australian Corrections Management.
Because of the private management, the Federal Government has never allowed unfettered access to the centres, meaning the departmental document provides the closest possible account of the services provided inside.
CHILDREN THE BIG WINNERS IN CAMPS
JUST one child is now held in mandatory detention without one or both their parents, official Immigration Department documents reveal.
And the remaining children – 103 in a total detainee population of 1326 – are accompanied by one or both parents.
While the separation of families has become the most emotional feature of the border protection debate, the official Immigration Department documents suggest a different picture, at least on the figures.
For privacy reasons, the department has not provided the Senate committee with any personal details relating to any of the detainees, be they children, youths or adults.
All that is known about the sole unaccompanied minor is that he is a boy.
But no age or nationality is given for the boy, being held at the Villawood Detention Centre in western Sydney.
It is not known how he came to be separated from his parents, whether they remain alive in their homeland, or whether one or both of them were imprisoned or even killed in a foreign conflict.
But the documents suggests that special attention is being paid to the care of the unaccompanied minor.
Villawood has in place a body called the Villawood Detention Centre Child Management Care Plan Committee.
Individual management plans are developed for each unaccompanied minor and "critical case reviews", involving sessions with counsellors and psychologists, are held to determine how they are faring.
Special measures are in place at each of the seven centres to ensure that children and youths are at least provided with a comparable standard of education to that available to Australian schoolchildren.
Extra-curricular sporting activities are organised daily, and occasional excursions – to Taronga Zoo for the Villawood detainees – are frequently held.
In some cases, there is a significant gap between the ages of those young people studying at the detention centres, and the ages of Australian schoolchildren studying subjects in normal schools.
At Woomera, for example, youths aged 16 to 18 and above are taught mathematics at the Year 8 to 10 level for 90 minutes a day.
But in most cases classes are conducted for the same age groups as children and young people at conventional schools.
Most young people at Woomera study exactly the same subjects as students in the South Australian public school system.
Kindergarten classes including alphabet and reading skills, counting, and arts and crafts including finger-painting are provided for children under the age of five.
This occurs regardless of how many young children are in each camp – for instance, the Baxter centre in Port Augusta, SA, has just two children aged under five, but they go to daily kindy classes, accompanied by their mothers, from 8.45am to 11.30am.
Primary-aged children receive five hours a day schooling with subjects including maths, sciences, English, computing and arts.
Teenagers are given the opportunity to study special vocational subjects such as information technology and to learn skills such as preparing CVs and handling job interviews in readiness to enter the workforce if their claims to asylum succeed.
Sport also plays a big role after schooling hours, with the youngsters playing everything from volleyball and badminton to Australian sports including cricket, league and Aussie Rules.
The gender divide between the youngsters is split 57 males and 46 females.
The biggest concentration of detained minors is 33 of a total 216 detainees at the Baxter Detention Centre in Port Augusta, SA.
Next is Villawood where 25 of the 585 detainees are children or youths.
The populations at the remaining five centres are small – 13 at Woomera and six at the Woomera Residential Housing Project, 11 at Port Hedland, six at Maribyrnong, none at Perth and 10 at Christmas Island.
In some cases, such as at Maribyrnong and Villawood, individuals or small groups of young people are sent outside the detention centres so they can keep up with their schooling.
Some of the older children from Villawood are given special after-hours assistance from volunteers with their homework and are also given extra-curricular help with computing and other job-related skills.
Outside organisations such as charities and religious or aid groups such as Save the Children are also given access to the centres on regular occasions so they can help amuse and educate younger children.
The widest facilities are provided at the Woomera Residential Housing Project, an adjunct to the Woomera Detention Centre, where children under the age of five join their mothers on weekly grocery shopping trips in the township.
Older children have regular excursions to the local library and swimming pool.
Efforts have been made to beautify and humanise the centres to make them more child friendly.
At Melbourne's Maribyrnong Centre, an aquarium has been installed in the reception area, and the detainees at Woomera Residential Housing Project now have a pet cat.
The treatment of children at the detention centre has become the focus of the anti-border protection lobby and has been seized on by critics as the worst example of the policy.
AT THEIR DISPOSAL – refugee facilities at Australia's detention centres:
Standard at all seven centres: Pool and snooker tables, television (24-hour Foxtel for cable TV in common areas), DVDs and VCRs, a minimum of 25 different movies each week, including films in English and other languages and desktop computers. Sony Playstations, Nintendos, musical instruments, large stereos and portable mini hi-fis. Personal stereos at some centres. Sewing machines and knitting/needlework equipment. Soccer, Australian football, rugby league, volleyball, basketball and touch football facilities; badminton and table tennis sets; gymnasium equipment including rowing machines, complete weight sets and bench presses, walking machines and exercise bikes. Education services including onsite teachers and subjects including English as a Second Language, business, mathematics, science, computing, life skills, religious awareness and vocational training. Medical services including onsite general practicioners and nurses, and inhouse or visiting psychiatrists, dentists and optometrists. Local newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph and The Adelaide Advertiser but also local ethnic community newspapers including Arab World, Chinese Herald, Russian Daily, Asian Weekend and Ho Jong Korean News. Library books, and access to mobile lending libraries.
Special facilities at Woomera, SA: Daily Tae Bo "box-ercise" classes and excursions to local BMX track, Woomera Area School, local shops and supermarket. Vegetable garden with children given seeds for their personal gardens, arts and craft classes including mural making, flower potting, painting and life drawing, beading and sewing. Life skill classes for life in Australia including sun awareness , parenting skills and child behaviour management, budgeting and diet awareness. Bingo nights, driver education training, yoga and meditation classes
Pet cat for the 12 people detained at the residential housing project. Individualised ESL (English) classes for adults.
Special facilities at Villawood, Western Sydney: Excursions to Taronga Zoo. Mini swimming pool for children. Flower arranging, pot-pourri making and gardening courses. "Hangi" barbecue days. Electric guitars. Picnic table and outdoor furniture carpentry workshops, barber and hairdressing facilities, cultural reading courses, yoga and meditation classes. Women's life skills discussion group.
Special facilities at Christmas Island: Coconut carving. Snorkeling. Bushwalking
Special activities for young inmates: Apart from the amusements and activities listed opposite, children and youths in detention are provided with other special services including:
Kindergarten classes where they learn the alphabet and numbers, enjoy finger-painting, collage and other craft, and learn basic life skills such as tying shoe laces, with their mothers in attendance
Trips to local playgrounds for tots with the supervision of their parents on outside excursions
Primary and secondary-level school classes, provided onsite or externally, where younger detainees study subjects such as maths, sciences, English and computing
Special ESL and computing/IT and vocational skill classes for teenagers who may soon enter the workforce if their applications for refugee status are successful
After-school sports events and round-robin sporting contests including "Mini World Cup" soccer and volleyball contests, and Australian sports days involving cricket, league and Aussie rules
In many cases, ongoing outside contact with non-government carer and support groups, such as the Save the Children fund which regularly visits Villawood Detention Centre
For children and youths with specific religious needs, including Islamic youths on Christmas Island, external Islamic instruction in The Koran
At the Woomera Residential Housing Program, youths aged 13 to 18 can take excursions to local areas such as the library, Breen Park in Woomera and the local swimming pool
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