MEDIA ALERT:
Monday, 26 March 2007

Julian Burnside to address public meeting re Christmas Island Detention Centre: Our new hi-tech hell-hole for refugees

Objections to the new immigration detention centre currently being built on Christmas Island will be voiced on Wednesday March 28, at a public meeting hosted by refugee advocates.

Liberty Victoria president Julian Burnside QC will be among a panel of speakers at the meeting, which has been organised by the Refugee Action Collective (RAC Vic) and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

“Leaked plans of the $360 million facility reveal the horror that lies ahead for asylum seekers,” said RAC spokesperson Lauren Ireland.

“We thought Baxter Detention Centre was an affront to human dignity, but the new centre is set to be much worse for detainees; it will have 24-hour hi-tech surveillance, with electronic ID tags, remote-controlled doors, microwave motion detectors and 'air-lock' systems for access, as well as a ‘babies’ compound complete with pre-school facilities,” said Ms Ireland.

The meeting coincides with a national petition campaign calling for an immediate halt to the construction of the centre, as amongst other things it contravenes the commitment made by Parliament in 2005 that children would only be detained as an absolute last resort. The new centre is due to be completed by mid-2007.

It is also inconsistent with the findings of numerous Parliamentary Inquiries, and the opinions of medical professionals, mental health experts, international human rights experts and bodies, lawyers and scholars about the negative impact such facilities have on all those held inside.

“We demand an end to the mandatory, indefinite and judicially non-reviewable detention of refugees and asylum seekers,” said Ms Ireland "and for the government to affirm their commitment to the rule of law, recognising the right of individuals to be treated with respect and dignity.”

Also on the speaking panel will be refugee advocate Anna Samson, who has recently returned from Christmas Island and has new photos of the construction site, Guy Coffey, Clinical Psychologist from the Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture, and Sister Brigid Arthur, Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project.

The meeting will be held at Kaleide Theatre, RMIT City Campus, 350 Swanston Street. It will start at 7pm and all are welcome. Entry is free. After the meeting, the speakers and a number of prominent Australians will be available for comment.

The following prominent campaign supporters are available for media comment before the meeting:

• Diana Greentree, Vice President of Actors for Refugees;
• Alistair Gee, Director of CWS (The National Council of Churches in Australia humanitarian and development agency);
• Colleen Hartland MLC (Greens);
• Arnold Zable, writer and President of Melbourne PEN international;
• Brian Walters SC past president of Liberty Victoria.

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact:
Lauren Ireland on 0401 635 072
or Tim Peterson on 0438 399 973