The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has released a report expressing increasing concern for the human rights of people held in Australia’s immigration detention facilities.
Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow said the report contained findings and recommendations from the Commission’s most recent in-person inspections of Australia’s immigration detention facilities, including ‘alternative places of detention’ (APODs).
Mr Santow said the inspections occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We can and we must do better to protect the human rights of people in immigration detention,” Ms Santow said.
“Over many years, the Commission has identified a large number of individuals for whom closed detention is not justified under human rights law,” he said.
“Especially given the COVID-19 pandemic, anyone who does not pose a significant security risk should be released into community detention.”
Mr Santow said that in 2019 the average period an individual was held in immigration detention was close to or just above 500 days.
“In September 2020 the average period of immigration detention was 581 days – the highest ever recorded, and much higher than any country comparable to Australia,” he said.
“This report shows how human rights problems are frequently made worse the longer an individual is detained,” the Commissioner said.
Mr Santow said the report made a number of recommendations to improve the health and wellbeing of people who remained in closed detention.
“These recommendations would enable genuine risks in immigration detention to be managed safely, while also protecting the human rights of all people held in immigration detention,” he said.
The Department of Home Affairs agreed, in whole or in part, with nine of the 44 recommendations in the AHRC’s report.
The AHRC’s 206-page report can be downloaded at this PS News link.
