Detention

I am staggered by our government at this time. There is currently a investigation underway looking at the wrongfull detention by the immigration department under the governments current illegal immigrant detention policy.

It has come to light that over 220 people have been wrongfully detained at least twelve over 1 year and 2 people detained for over 5 years. Remember these are lawful permanent residents, and in some cases, full Australian Citizens. One famous case had a lady deported! another a mentally ill patient detained and denied treatement while detained.

I’m sorry what is that again! Australian citizens being detained for over 5 years by there own government because some immigration official thinks that they may be an illegal immigrant! I cannot see how this can be defended by any government anywhere, let alone a democracy.

But I want to take this to the next step, the Australian government has a policy of detaining all true refugees (the ones arriving by boats, the ones that have risked life, limb and family). They detain the ones that reach our shores in a prison in the middle of the desert, and the ones stopped before landfall within prisons on our small pacific neighbours. I cannot believe that any sane person can agree to this! They say they want to discourage the people smugglers, well then lock up the people smugglers!