Australia
imprisons refugees who come here, whether they are children or adults.
To do this a vast immigration gulag has been constructed over many
decades. This gulag stretches from Yongah Hill prison in Western
Australia to the prison on Nauru; a distance of 6,305 km. And it
stretches from the MITA prison in Victoria to the immigration prison on
Christmas Island, which is a distance of 4,943 km. This gulag is
constructed of razor wire and concrete, but more importantly it is
constructed in all our minds with an ideology that denies the humanity
of those we imprison.
These people are imprisoned with no legal process – there is no charge against them, no trial and no conviction against them. There is no law that they have violated. They are innocent. And yet there is no limit to how long they can be locked away. It might be two years, it might be five years, or for some it may be eight years. The detention is indefinite and arbitrary.
Clause 39 of the Magna Carta says “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.” This fundamental human rights protection entered into force 800 years ago and since then many other treaties and conventions have also become law to protect the rights of human beings. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), the United Nations Convention Against Torture (1985) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). Australia is subject to all of these conventions and yet routinely violates them with its treatment of the refugees within the immigration gulag.
In the immigration gulag the prisoners are denied their freedom, they are referred to by numbers not their names, they are denied adequate health care, they are denied clean food and water, they are denied education, they are routinely denied access to lawyers, they are denied work rights and their ability to practice their religion is severely curtailed. The immigration gulag was explicitly set up to make these people suffer – to subject them to “harsh” treatment. The result of this is an epidemic of mental illness amongst the tens of thousands of people who have been locked away in the gulag. Added to this are the beatings, the sexual assaults and rapes, the gunshot and machete wounds and the murders that have taken place in the immigration gulag. Conditions in the immigration gulag are worse than in the prison system in which Australia locks up criminals.
This violence directed against refugees by Australia is rooted in the racist ideologies of invasion and occupation that were, and continue to be used against the first nations of Australia. The denial of the humanity of the racialised other, the false accusations against those persecuted by the state and the farcical claims that the state is acting in the interests of those it starves and harms is the same in both cases. The collective punishment is the same. The public invisibility of the multitudinous state crimes and petty cruelties is the same. And the crushing weight of a capricious and all powerful bureaucracy used against the oppressed is the same.
These people are imprisoned with no legal process – there is no charge against them, no trial and no conviction against them. There is no law that they have violated. They are innocent. And yet there is no limit to how long they can be locked away. It might be two years, it might be five years, or for some it may be eight years. The detention is indefinite and arbitrary.
Clause 39 of the Magna Carta says “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.” This fundamental human rights protection entered into force 800 years ago and since then many other treaties and conventions have also become law to protect the rights of human beings. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), the United Nations Convention Against Torture (1985) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). Australia is subject to all of these conventions and yet routinely violates them with its treatment of the refugees within the immigration gulag.
In the immigration gulag the prisoners are denied their freedom, they are referred to by numbers not their names, they are denied adequate health care, they are denied clean food and water, they are denied education, they are routinely denied access to lawyers, they are denied work rights and their ability to practice their religion is severely curtailed. The immigration gulag was explicitly set up to make these people suffer – to subject them to “harsh” treatment. The result of this is an epidemic of mental illness amongst the tens of thousands of people who have been locked away in the gulag. Added to this are the beatings, the sexual assaults and rapes, the gunshot and machete wounds and the murders that have taken place in the immigration gulag. Conditions in the immigration gulag are worse than in the prison system in which Australia locks up criminals.
This violence directed against refugees by Australia is rooted in the racist ideologies of invasion and occupation that were, and continue to be used against the first nations of Australia. The denial of the humanity of the racialised other, the false accusations against those persecuted by the state and the farcical claims that the state is acting in the interests of those it starves and harms is the same in both cases. The collective punishment is the same. The public invisibility of the multitudinous state crimes and petty cruelties is the same. And the crushing weight of a capricious and all powerful bureaucracy used against the oppressed is the same.
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