| Doctors call for a stop to mandatory detention |
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THE federal government has affirmed its commitment to the mandatory detention of asylum seekers, as the Australian Medical Association slammed the policy as ''inherently harmful to the physical and mental health of detainees''. A parliamentary inquiry has highlighted the difficulties of the troubled detention network, which has been plagued by riots, self-harm and overcrowding, with 1507 detainees hospitalised in the first six months of this year. The association's president, Dr Steve Hambleton, used an address last night to the association's parliamentary dinner, attended by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, to send a message to both sides of politics.
The Refugee Council of Australia chief executive, Paul Power, said the incidence of self-harm in detention ''is beyond anything we have previously seen in Australia'' and the policy was ''profoundly stupid and counterproductive''. The government says mandatory detention is not used to deter, but enables claims processing. Mr Power said if this was the case, the detention period should be restricted to ''weeks'' and the checks used for temporary visa holders should apply. Appearing before the parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday night, the Immigration Department secretary, Andrew Metcalfe, raised a series of questions: how reception of asylum seekers should be managed; whether detention was a deterrent or there to facilitate processing; and how long processing should take. The opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, and the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, neither of whom questioned Mr Metcalfe's comments at the time, yesterday leapt on suggestions he had questioned the mandatory detention policy. A spokesman for the Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen, said Mr Metcalfe was referring to the terms of reference of the inquiry and not expressing a view. The Senate has meanwhile agreed to an inquiry into the Malaysia refugee swap, which will report back by September 22. |
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