Opposition to reintroduction of Temporary Protection Visas, Hearings continue at the Australian Human Rights Commission, ChilOut are hiring!
"In Iran they break our bones. In Australia they break our spirit". These words were spoken by Morteza in the SBS program Living With the Enemy. Morteza was a child detainee in Villawood when ChilOut started in 2001. Indefinite Detention is designed to damage people. It caused widespread self-harm and depression 13 years ago and still does today. Our friends in DASSAN tell us fights and suicide attempts are commonplace in the Darwin detention facilities - and 300 children are in there caught up in it all. Detaining anyone indefinitely is wrong.
Detaining children indefinitely is indefensible. ChilOut opposes Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) "It is like a cancer. It is like a brain tumour or something – you know that you are going to die after three years. Even if you have a brain tumour, you know that you are going to die in that certain time … so you live happily. With this, you just die every day. You don’t know what’s going to happen." Teenage asylum seeker on TPVs ChilOut has written to all Senators to express our concern over the reintroduction of Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs). These three-year visas are known to cause great harm to refugees, who are forced to live a life in limbo. We also know that denying the right to family reunification
Upcoming Events 24 - 25 September Multicultural Youth Reps Training, Lidcome, Sydney. Hosted by the Multicultural Youth Affairs Network (MYAN) NSW and the Refugee Youth Interagency Network (RYIN), this training program will bring together young people aged 1425 from refugee, migrant or
damages children most of all. While the Government has claimed that the reintroduction of TPVs will allow them to release children from detention, ChilOut (and many other advocacy groups) believe that this is simply a manipulative gesture - one that we will not support. You can write your own letter to the Senators in your State or Territory by using the proforma letter here.
Australian Human Rights Commission Inquiry continues The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has held two further hearings in its National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention, and has heard evidence from psychiatrist Dr. Peter Young alleging a Government cover-up about the scale and seriousness of mental health issues among child asylum seekers. The AHRC has also released damning statistics on the plight of children in detention, including: 983 children in immigration detention: 775 children are held in locked immigration detention facilities in Australian territories and 208 children are held in detention in Nauru (as at 31 May 2014) 304 children are detained on Christmas Island as at 31 March 2014 and are subject to offshore transfer to Nauru as prescribed by Australian Government policy 54 unaccompanied children are held in immigration detention facilities in Australia (as at 31 March 2014) 128 babies were born in immigration detention facilities in Australia in the period 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2014 Time in detention: 321 children had been held in an immigration detention facility in Australia for more than 6 months (as at January 2014) 38 children had been held in an immigration detention facility in Australia for more than one year (as at January 2014) The average length of time that a child spent in an immigration detention facility in Australia
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who are keen to learn about advocating for the issues that affect them and other young people around them. For more info, contact
[email protected] 9 - 11 October FREE THE CHILDREN! in Adelaide Circle of Friends are holding an exciting action aimed at increasing the public’s awareness surrounding the plight of children in detention. The Cage, symbolising a detention centre with hundreds of dolls, each doll representing a child who is currently locked away, will be situated outside Scots Church, on the corner of North Tce and Pultney St. If you're in Adelaide please come along and show your support. Anyone interested in volunteering to help please sign up here. 25 October Walk Together 2014 - Common People, Common Dreams 1 pm. Australia wide. No matter how you arrived here, we share the same dreams of safety, peace, belonging and opportunity and a better future for our children. Click here to find the event in your city.
as at 31 March 2014 was 231 days Self-harm: There were 128 reported actual self-harm incidents amongst children in closed immigration detention facilities in Australia from January 2013 to March 2014 Education: School education on Christmas Island is limited to a maximum of 2 weeks per child. The average length of time that children have been detained on Christmas Island is 221.5 days. There were 160 school aged children as at 31 March 2014. You can read the transcripts that the AHRC have released to date on their website, as well as the expert reports on the horrendous conditions faced by children in detention.
UN Human Rights Chief critical of Australia's treatment of asylum seekers The new UN Human Rights Chief, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, used his maiden speech at the opening of the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council to deliver a damning indictment on refugee and asylum seeker policies in Australia. In his speech, he said "there is no justification ever, for the degrading, the debasing or the exploitation of other human beings - on whatever basis," and that Australia's current policy has led to a "chain of human rights violations." Latest News Chris Bowen and Scott Morrison appear before the Australian Human Rights Commission... Mothers selfharm in Inverbrackie detention centre... What it is really like being a child refugee in Australia... stay in touch with all of this news on our facebook page or via our media scoop. ChilOut salutes the DASSAN team members who silently walked 40 kilometers in 32 degree heat from Darwin to Wickham Point for a vigil bearing signs that
simply say ChilOut's key message:
"KIDS DON'T BELONG IN DETENTION" Congratulations to the SBS team, Morteza and long term ChilOut supporter, Heather Tyler, author of Asylum, for a brilliant edition of Living With the Enemy. It just shows the power of correct information and human stories. Keep on having those respectful one on one conversations - there's nothing more effective! Welcome to our new Youth Ambassador Program Coordinator! ChilOut is delighted to announce that Annamarie Reyes has joined our team to re-establish our Ambassadors' Program and spread those human stories. She comes to us with a wealth of experience and is keen to identify any potential ambassadors. Please get in touch with us at
[email protected] if you know any young people who care, have a story to tell or would make passionate advocates. We will help them all the way! Work with us ChilOut is looking for a very special person to become Campaign Cordinator for ChilOut. Check out our advert on Ethical Jobs. ChilOut thanks Sophie Peer, our legendary former Campaign Director, for her many years of dedication and exceptional work on this issue. We are also grateful for in-kind admin support we have received from Sonja from Verve and Seng from Refuge Accounting. Thanks Guys - help like this is so invaluable. ChilOut desperately needs your $$$!!! But we also need your financial support to help us pay our people. Please, please, please consider making a regular donation to us, or choosing us for your employers' contribution matching scheme, or a cake stall at school, or... However it comes, our funds really need a boost and every little helps! And remember we now have DGR status too.
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