Guardian article on cost of keeping asylum seekers on Nauru May 2015

Visa costs of $1,000 per person per month are in addition to the already substantial fees Australia pays major contractors to manage the centre

Aerial view of the ‘Topside’ detention centre in the middle of Nauru. Photograph: Remi Chauvin for the Guardian

The Australian government has paid Nauru almost $29m on monthly visa fees to keep asylum seekers and refugees in the island’s detention centre.Since the Nauru facility was reopened in 2012 the visa fee for asylum seekers had been raised to $1,000 per person per month, the immigration department has confirmed in response to questions from the February Senate estimates.
“The current cost for visas for transferees and refugees in Nauru is $1,000 per month per person. An amount of $27,893,633 has been paid to 30 March for transferee visas (paid quarterly) and an amount of $1,008,000 to 24 February 2015 for refugee visas.”
The visa costs are in addition to the already substantial fees Australia pays major contractors to manage the detention centre on the island. Transfield Services has a $1.2bn contract for its management role at the centre. Save the Children receives $36m for welfare services to minors on the island.
Canstruct Pty Ltd receives $52m for construction services to develop detention facilities for asylum seekers on the island.
Australia also regularly pays fees to corporations run by the Nauru government.
Digicel Nauru, which is part owned by the Nauruan government, received $3m for upgrades to telecommunications and internet infrastructure. Eigigu Holdings, a key holding company for the Nauruan government, was paid $5m for providing accommodation to Australian staff.The $1,000 per month fee for asylum seekers is substantially higher than any other visa price for the island nation.

Nauru came under heavy criticism in 2014 when it raised the application fee for journalists to $8,000, increased from just $200.

Asylum Seekers' mental health data not used - Guardian Australia

Asylum seekers' mental health data collected but not used, says expert

Dr Peter Young, former mental health director within Australia’s detention system, says mental health of asylum seekers in detention is deteriorating

Dr Peter Young says about a third of all those in detention exhibit significant clinical problems. 

Mental health screening data on asylum seekers held in detention is still being collected but not used or analysed, a former mental health director within Australia’s immigration detention system has said.

Dr Peter Young is the former director of mental health services for International Health and Medical Services, which provides healthcare across Australia’s immigration detention network.

When Young first spoke out on this issue, to Guardian Australia, he said the immigration department had delayed using new measures to screen mental health issues in detention.

But the measures were eventually implemented in early 2014 – after the Australian Human Rights Commission began its inquiry into children in detention – and Young presented some early figures at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) conference last May.

Speaking at this year’s conference in Brisbane on Tuesday, he said the early figures highlighted significant deterioration in the health of asylum seekers in detention, with about a third of all those in detention exhibiting significant clinical problems.

But since that time, Young told the conference, while the data was still being collected, it was not being used to assess the health of people in immigration detention.

“This resulted in the collection of a lot of data, which unfortunately is not accessible now,” he said.

“The department were very unhappy about these results. Following this mental health screening was removed.

“The measurements are still occurring. But nobody is actually using the data, and nobody can look at them. And there’s been no further development in child mental health screening.”

Young also told the conference that the Australian federal police had contacted him before the conference.

“All of this information is published publicly on the department of immigration website,” he said. “It’s been brought to my attention that I must not speak about anything which is confidential information in the public domain.

“I had recent words from the federal police to that effect when they found out I was presenting here today.”

The Australian federal police have been contacted about their approach to Young.

The former mental health director of IHMS has been praised by peak mental health bodies and international human rights groups for speaking out about conditions in Australia’s immigration detention system.

Newsletter for 6 May 2015 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Newsletter for 6 May 2015
Labor's immigration spokesman Richard Marles is just back from his first visit to Manus Island.

Richard Marles spoke to Naomi Woodley ABC about his Manus Island visit.

RICHARD MARLES: The conditions are improving, but what concerns me greatly is that when it comes to the Abbott Government, it has taken tragedies before they've acted.

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Manus Island - state of art medical centre being constructed

Make the comparison, build "state of the art medical centre on Manus Island, but do not provide basic services to remote aboriginal  communities

Labor's immigration spokesman Richard Marles is just back from his first visit to Manus Island. He says offshore processing for asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat will remain a key part of Labor's future policy. But he wouldn't be drawn on the prospect of a heated debate at this year's ALP national conference. 

Richard Marles spoke to Naomi Woodley about his Manus Island visit.

RICHARD MARLES: The conditions are improving, but what concerns me greatly is that when it comes to the Abbott Government, it has taken tragedies before they've acted.

Right now, for example, the health clinic on Manus is very basic and as a result we saw, last year, the tragic situation of a person pass through that facility, Hamid Kehazaei, who ultimately died of septicaemia. 
Now the circumstances of that have been investigated, but it's not until that has occurred that we see a new medical facility being built, which is unquestionably state of the art, and that's to be opened in the next couple of months. 

Newsletter for 29 April 2015 - Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Hi Everyone

We have added our group's name to the 

CALL FOR IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON SENDING ASYLUM SEEKERS OFFSHORE

The Refugee Council finally received support from 124 groups 

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Moratorium on sending Asylum Seekers offshore - joint statement by Australian organisations and community groups

Our group has signed the following call for a moratorium and we have just received the following update from the Refugee Council

"In the end we had 124 organisations that agreed so promptly to add their voices to the moratorium call.

Feature media pieces linked below, in the Australian, on ABC AM and in the Guardian; the call was also mentioned on ABC TV news, Sunrise, Today and Studio 10, World Today, News Radio -and syndicated/published in a further 150 publications – as well as good social media coverage. A worthwhile enterprise - and we thank you for your generous support. Thanks too to UCA, NSWCCL and any other orgs who issued a release.

The Refugee Council has also contacted the Minister’s office and sought a meeting to continue to advocate on  this matter – and we encourage you to do the same. We will update you on any further outcomes."

Refugee Council Media Release

IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON OFFSHORE TRANSFERS

-         REFUGEE COUNCIL JOINS OVER 100 AUSTRALIAN ORGANISATION IN JOINT CALL TO MINISTER

Embargoed 00.01am 24 April 2015

The Refugee Council of Australia has called for an immediate moratorium on transfers to Nauru following the tragic example of a five year old girl who has attempted to commit suicide following her prolonged detention there.

Over 100 Australian organisations and community groups, including churches and religious institutions, human rights, aid and development bodies, advocates and community organisations have joined the call to cease transfer of asylum seekers back to harm.

Paul Power, CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia said, “An innocent young girl of just five years old has been driven to attempting suicide because of the Australian Government’s inability to provide a satisfactory duty of care on Nauru. No child should be sent there and certainly not sent to a situation while the environment remains so dangerous.

“This young girl, who has shown sexualised behaviour, has self-harmed and is obviously profoundly and negatively impacted by the Australian Government’s policy of detaining children in extremely harsh environments, is indicative of the inability of the inadequacy of this current policy. 

“Any parent would be appalled by the impact on this vulnerable young girl, and we call upon the Australian Government to immediately cease the transfer of vulnerable asylum seekers until all the recommendations of the Moss Review and the Cornall report are implemented.

“We call on the Australian Government to show some compassion for a young vulnerable girl and not return her, nor any other vulnerable people to Nauru until the safety and protection of all asylum seekers can be guaranteed.

“The recent Moss Review and Cornall Reports illustrated sexual abuse, including rape, violence, drugs for favours and a general failure to provide safety and security, particularly for women and children, highlighted the inappropriateness of Nauru as a place to send already vulnerable asylum seekers.

“The Government has accepted all recommendations in the Moss Report and as such, no further children, women, nor men should be sent to Nauru not Manus until all recommendations are satisfied and safety and security of children and women can be assured”, concluded Mr Power.

For the full statement and list of signatories, see below.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL TIM O’CONNOR  0431 147 366

JOINT STATEMENT

CALL FOR IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON SENDING ASYLUM SEEKERS OFFSHORE

Joint statement by Australian organisations and community groups

24 April 2015

We, the undersigned, call for an immediate moratorium on the transfer of asylum seekers to Nauru and Manus Island until the safety and security of vulnerable asylum seekers can be guaranteed.

The recent Immigration Department-commissioned independent investigations, the Moss Review into the failures of protection for children and women on Nauru, and the Cornall Report into the ruinous conditions on Manus Island, illustrate the inappropriate levels of protection and security inherent in the current system.

The Australian Government, in accepting all recommendations of the Moss Review, has acknowledged that major changes are needed at Nauru to ensure that women and children can be kept safe from physical, psychological and sexual abuse. 

The Moss Review also highlighted serious deficiencies in conditions at the Nauru detention centre and noted that asylum seekers had concerns about their personal safety and privacy. The Review concluded that asylum seekers’ safety should be considered paramount and that the Australian Government needs to do more in relation to infrastructure, policing and staffing, including ensuring that staff are properly trained on issues of personal safety and privacy for asylum seekers.

Conditions at Manus Island are no better: after two years of operation, a majority asylum seekers have still not had their applications processed and only a handful of people have been moved to the Lorengau transitory facility. Over 950 men remain at the Manus Island detention centre, continuing to live in fear. Recommendations from the Cornall Report into the Manus Island detention centre have not been implemented to a satisfactory standard. 

As appropriate care is not available on Manus Island or on Nauru, over 200 asylum seekers and accompanying family members who have been in offshore processing facilities are currently in Australia for medical treatment. 

Many of those detained on Manus Island and Nauru are now suffering significant mental distress including post-traumatic stress disorder. Returning those people, including children, to the place of their suffering and even to the place where they may have experienced sexual abuse, amounts to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

Fear of return to Manus Island and Nauru is so acute that self-harm and attempted suicide have rapidly escalated amongst this group. Part of their fear is due to the Government’s removal of procedural fairness, which means they are held incommunicado, without phone access to lawyers, family or friends, for hours and have their personal belongings packed by detention centre officers while they wait to be removed offshore. Because the Immigration Department does not reveal who will be transferred each week, hundreds of people have heightened anxiety for days before each scheduled transfer.

Asylum seekers and refugees have legitimate fears for their safety, and the Australian Government has not implemented meaningful changes to detention conditions at Nauru or Manus Island to ensure they comply with both its own commissioned reports as well as Australia’s obligations under international law.

We call for an immediate moratorium on transfers to offshore detention centres, at least until such a time as all recommendations of the Moss Review and Cornall Report have been fully implemented, and the Australian-funded detention centres comply with minimum international standards for the treatment of the people detained there.

This statement is supported by the following organisations:

Refugee Council of Australia (statement coordinator) A Just Cause

ACOSS

ADRA Australia

Amnesty International Australia

Apollo Bay Rural Australians for Refugees

Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce

Australian Coalition to End Immigration Detention of Children

Australian Council For International Development

Australian Education Union

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights

Australian National Committee on Refugee Women

Australian Refugee Association

Ballarat Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support  Network (BRASSN)

Ballarat Community Health

Ballina Region for Refugees

Balmain for Refugees

Baptist Care Australia

Bayside Refugee and Advocacy Association

Befriend a child in Detention

Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group

B'nai B'rith Australia/New Zealand

Braidwood Rural Australians for Refugees

Bridge for Asylum Seekers Foundation

Brisbane Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network (BRASS)

Buddies Refugee Support Group, Sunshine Coast

Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia

Caritas Australia

Castlemaine Rural Australians for Refugees

Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, Office of Justice and Peace

Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, Justice and Peace Office

Catholic Diocese of Darwin

Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba, Social Justice Commission

Catholics in Coalition for Justice and Peace

Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Archdiocese of Brisbane

Catholic Social Services Australia

Centacare South West NSW

Centrecare (WA)

Centre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University

Centre for Refugee Research, University of NSW

Children's Rights International

ChildFund Australia

ChilOut

Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees

cohealth

Combined Refugee Action Group, Geelong

Common Grace

Communicare

Compassion and Justice for Refugees, South Australia

Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes in NSW

Corangamite Grandmothers against Detention of Refugee Children

Cyber Christian Community WA

DASSAN (Darwin Asylum Seeker Support Network) Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands

Edmund Rice Centre Mirrabooka

Edmund Rice Centre Sydney

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Australia

Geelong Interchurch Social Justice Network

Grandmothers Against the Detention of Refugee Children

Institute of Sisters of Mercy, Australia and Papua New Guinea

Islamic Council of Victoria

Jesuit Refugee Service Australia

Jesuit Social Services

Jews for Refugees

Liberty Victoria

Melbourne Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office

Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

Multicultural Services Centre of WA

NSW Council of Civil Liberties

NSW Teachers Federation

NT Council of Social Service

Oxfam Australia

Pax Christi Australia (NSW)

Plan International Australia

Presentation People's Social Justice Group, Ballina

Presentation Sisters Queensland

Presentation Sisters Western Australia

Quakers, WA Regional Meeting

Refugee Advice and Casework Service

Refugee Advocacy Network

Refugee Advocacy Service of South Australia Inc (RASSA

Rural Australians for Refugees, Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Rural Australians for Refugees, Daylesford and District

Rural Australians for Refugees, Armidale

Safe Asylum

Sanctuary Australia Foundation

SCALES Community Legal Centre

SCARF Inc, Illawarra

Sydney Justice and Peace Coalition

Sisters of Mercy Parramatta

Sisters of the Good Samaritans

Social Responsibilities Commission, Anglican Diocese of Perth

South Australian Refugee Health Network

South Australian Council for Civil Liberties

St Vincent de Paul Society National Council of Australia

Surf Coast Rural Australians for Refugees

Tasmanian Asylum Seeker Support

The Tasmania Opportunity

Victorian Arabic Social Services

Townsville Multicultural Support Group

UNICEF Australia

Uniting Church In Australia

Victorian Council of Social Service

Victorian Council of Churches

VOICE Australia

Warrnambool Rural Australians for Refugees

Welcome to Australia

Western Region Ethnic Communities Council

Women's Health in the South East

World Vision Australia

Wyndham Community and Education Centre