Thread: Suicide, depression hit Australia detainees

SYDNEY - Australia's asylum seeker policy came under more fire Thursday with the Human Rights Commission warning that suicide and depression were major concerns in the country's detention centres.
A new study focusing on the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney was released as criticism mounted of Canberra's plan to send boatpeople to Malaysia, where detainees can be caned.
Detention is mandatory for asylum seekers who arrive in Australia until their claims are processed, with some remaining locked up for more than a year.
The Australian Human Rights Commission said three apparent suicides at Villawood last year and high rates of self-harm should serve as a warning.
Commission president Catherine Branson said that the uncertainty caused by being held indefinitely was triggering serious mental health issues.
"What we saw at Villawood was the result of the system of mandatory and indefinite detention, where people can see no end in sight because there is no set time limit on the period a person can be held in detention," she said.
Sixty percent of those in detention when the commission visited Villawood had been held for longer than six months, and 45 percent for more than a year.
"We saw people scarred from self-harming. We heard others talk of sleepless nights, days of depression and frequent thoughts of suicide," said Branson.
"The commission has been deeply concerned for some time about the detrimental impacts of prolonged and indefinite detention on people?s mental health and wellbeing."
She added that the concerns had escalated over the past year as thousands more people arrived, usually on boats from Indonesia.
"I urge the government to make greater use of community-based alternatives that are cheaper, more effective and more humane, such as the use of bridging visas or community detention," she said.
Louise Newman, head of the immigration department's detention health advisory group, admitted there were problems.
"Whenever we have in close proximity people killing themselves then that raises very serious issues about the function of the system," she told ABC radio.
Some 8,000 boatpeople have arrived in Australia since the beginning of 2010, and recent riots and rooftop protests have prompted the government to approach Malaysia about taking some for processing.
Canberra plans to send 800 there and in return will accept 4,000 people already assessed to be refugees from Malaysia for resettlement over four years.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights this week warned Australia the plan could be illegal, with Malaysia not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention nor the UN Convention against Torture.
According to Amnesty International, Malaysia canes up to 6,000 detainees a year, claims seized on by critics Thursday.
But Immigration Minister Chris Bowen insisted that he had received assurances that any asylum seekers sent to Malaysia would not be abused.
"Malaysia has agreed to treat any asylum seekers transferred from Australia in line with their human rights," he said in a statement.
"They will not be caned."

More here: Suicide, depression hit Australia detainees

I heard on the radio that it cost the Government 73 Million over two years for mental health issues for them.

What about me i'm suicidal & depressed because of the waste of my tax dollars that get spent on these pricks.

I thought these people were escaping conditions so terrible that they were prepared to risk everything to get out. Surely being "held" in a detention facility where they get free accomodation, food and all kinds of stuff until somebody can figure out who they really are can not be that bad. Seems like a lot of them start acting up almost from the day they get out of detention...demanding this and that from countries to which they have contributed nothing, and have no intentions of ever doing so.
They arrive with totally unrealistic expectations, and then get highly pissed off when things don't go exactly as they had hoped. Don't suppose the locals would be prepared to fund a one way ticket back to wherever they came from being as things are so awful for them...naw that would be a violation of their human rights...

I think this depression is bought on by homesickness, and we all know the cure for that.

the gov has just spent a billion dollars refurbshing christmas island these clowns live better than i do,i might see if there are any rooms available.

Originally Posted by bobo746

the gov has just spent a billion dollars refurbshing christmas island these clowns live better than i do,i might see if there are any rooms available.

Yeh I will join you, tough times for us too, lets see if the goverment can give us a handout. Theyed have to wouldnt they? I mean we are Aussies after all.

Originally Posted by bobo746

the gov has just spent a billion dollars refurbshing christmas island

Santa seems to have come early this year.

Originally Posted by bobo746

the gov has just spent a billion dollars refurbshing christmas island these clowns live better than i do,i might see if there are any rooms available.

And we cant even fund our own hospitals properly.
We have to have fund raisers and appeals to raise money for their existance.
Honestly, the Aus Government is doing it all wrong.

The whole system is geared against white australia,try and get a woman a visa from an asian country and they make you jump through hoops but i see there are now 2500 indian cab drivers in brisbane what visa are they getting if i ever brought another girl here i would apply for the cab driver visa seems it's pretty easy to get.

^ lol. too fuc*ing trrue, mate.

When I was in Sydney at year's end, I got a Bangladeshi taxi driver who'd only been in the country a week. He asked me to put the street name into the GPS and then followed it.

Some blame has to go to employers looking for cheap labour.

Originally Posted by davearn

20 years ago, a family could live very comfortably on one wage in Australia. Full free health care and an old age pension upron retirement. Now, people struggle on two wages, only get 75% back of medical bills paid up front (the standard of which is bloody abysmal) and no age pension. I have noticed our overseas contributions have trebled in the last twenty years so it seems our Govt. is so paranoid about having good diplomatic relations with Indo and Malaysia et al, that the average Aussie is far worse off.

This is what liberals refer to as "progress" It's actually quite a common situation in western countries now. Liberal governments just can't seem to give it away fast enough. Look at the recent G8 meeting. They came up with a brilliant plan to raise $40 billion to improve infrastructure and employment in ....Tunisia and Egypt...

Liberals believe in helping eveybody except their own people. Liberals believe that if you spread the cash around widely enough everybody will be happy and better off, and those that they helped will be eternally grateful.

People with common sense know that if you spread the cash around widely enough everybody ends up broke... Lots of western countries are well on the way to meeting this goal.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

When I was in Sydney at year's end, I got a Bangladeshi taxi driver who'd only been in the country a week. He asked me to put the street name into the GPS and then followed it.

Some blame has to go to employers looking for cheap labour.

Agree with harry here, employers are the same all over the industrialized world, they pressure Governments with fantastic tales of low domestic birthrates and future workforce shortage, pure crap all they really want is an abundance of imported low skill unemployed to to undercut wages, technology and industrial robots is rapidly taking away slow expensive manual labor in many areas, I do not personally believe in the low skill manual workforce shortage in the future.

The Private company's don't care about the immigrant slums created, and huge social problems and costs transferred to the taxpayers this policy has created and which will be much worse in the future.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

When I was in Sydney at year's end, I got a Bangladeshi taxi driver who'd only been in the country a week. He asked me to put the street name into the GPS and then followed it.

Some blame has to go to employers looking for cheap labour.

The Taxi industry is the only industry that gets away with paying for cheap labour. They are not generally accepted in mainstream employment, I manage a small recruitment company and I know. The only other jobs they have (and Aussies will back me on this) they are good as console operators at service station, console operators at 7/11 and great for washing your car whilst you shop at most major shopping centres. Oh also trying to sell phone services and gas and electricity by knocking on your door. Poor buggers, what else can they do?

Originally Posted by davearn

20 years ago, a family could live very comfortably on one wage in Australia. Full free health care and an old age pension upron retirement.

Now, people struggle on two wages, only get 75% back of medical bills paid up front (the standard of which is bloody abysmal) and no age pension.

I have noticed our overseas contributions have trebled in the last twenty years so it seems our Govt. is so paranoid about having good diplomatic relations with Indo and Malaysia et al, that the average Aussie is far worse off.

I can see no reason why the so-called asylum seekers should not have to repay anyt costs once they are settled into Australia and making a wage or drawing a government subsidy. After all, our students have to reapy any education costs (HECS) they may incur in an effort to better themselves.

Just my two cents worth I guess...

How true is this? Why cant they pay it back?
If we are done for tax evasion or something the like, the tax dept is all over us to pay it back, sucks to be Aussie! 555 and I know that is going to invite comments from the to and froms that post here. :-) However, seems they are in the same boat with these ferkers.

^ Be interested to see where your infop comes from Baz as I think you may be a bit of the mark. Only tow years ago the USA only contributed about 0.2% to foreign add (probably still a bucketload of cash) but not as high as 2%.

As far as "white trash", there are thousands more jobs than unemployed, whilst I agree there are scumbags in every country, I disagree with your comments wholeheartedly.

I know plenty of cab drivers who are forced to accept less hours and therfore less money as one of the "new Australians" will happily do it for a lot less as they do not have the financial commitments that the imports do.

Originally Posted by Bazzy

Some points


1. Australia's foreign aid budget as a % of GDP is not particularly high compared to other western countries - 0.32%, even the struggling USA still manages 2%. Fuck all really when you consider what it costs to fund UN interventions when civil wars and famine strike. It isn't always well directed, in my opinion, but how can it be?

2. The back-door that let all the Indians into Autralia to drive every cab, run every 7-11 and service station was the student visa. They are a lot tighter now, possibly not tight enough. In any case, they are only doing jobs that no other kunt wants to do. At least they want to work, unlike some of the white trash around the place.

I am at risk of being exposed here but i manage a small recruitment/labour hire agency and I can tell you that they tell me they dont want them.
Having said that, the 4% that are unemployed, there is a reason for it.
We have employed heaps of people in the past who ring now and then (most of the time you dont want to re-employ them) but they need to demonstrate that they have applied for work and if they get a name they are laughing. I think it is 2 or 3 times per week they have to do that, It sucks to hell.
The government then affers $3000 to employ these people after 13 weeks and a further $3000 after 16 weeks if we keep them employed.
It is farcked.

Originally Posted by davearn

ars ago the USA only contributed about 0.2% to foreign add (probably still a bucketload of cash) but not as high as 2%.

Sorry it was a typo, should have read 0.2%, corrected now.....

Originally Posted by brettandlek

the 4% that are unemployed, there is a reason for it

So if taxpayers have to carry these people, why not have a few more taxi drivers from Bangladesh, who earn money and pay tax so I don't have to pay so much of my tax to the useless buggers.

AUSTRALIA.................

....aren't i pleased i escaped that shit hole....ten years now and never been back..
and won't be going back....

at lest here i am treated with contempt....but i do the screwing....

what a fuck up.....all down to the retards in charge.....

Originally Posted by Bazzy

Originally Posted by brettandlek

the 4% that are unemployed, there is a reason for it

So if taxpayers have to carry these people, why not have a few more taxi drivers from Bangladesh, who earn money and pay tax so I don't have to pay so much of my tax to the useless buggers.

Good point I suppose, but thats how it is.
The government has made it so easy for them now.
Either that or you employ them and they will find a way to be on workcover forever!

It's spooky most of the things written here about Australian government attitude to immigration/ jobs,could be applied to Britain ,either there is a one world government being set up,
or they are reading from the same policy sheet about how to fuk the white working man up.