Labor continues to lock up children

Immigration minister Chris Evans is facing increasing criticism as refugee advocates voice concern for 20 unaccompanied children who are being detained on Christmas Island.

The January 31 Sydney Morning Herald pointed out Evans' conflicting roles with regards to unaccompanied minors seeking asylum — children who fall under the guardianship of the very minister responsible for their inhumane detention.

"You have a situation where the minister is both the guardian and the jailer", University of Sydney's professor Mary Crock said, according to the SMH article. "It's grossly inadequate. The children are still interviewed without an assistant, in the first instance. They are still kept on Christmas Island instead of being brought to Australia."

Last year, the federal Labor government announced it would no longer detain children. On January 13, the Human Rights Commission released the 2008 Immigration Detention Report, which found that, while there are no longer any children held in "immigration detention centres", children are still held in "closed detention centres" on mainland Australia and Christmas Island.

Releasing the report, human rights commissioner Graeme Innes said: "The time is now for the government to amend Australia's immigration laws to ensure they comply with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Detention of children in any type of immigration detention facility should only be used as an absolute last resort."

The report called for the government to implement the findings of the national inquiry into children in immigration detention. It also recommended an end to detaining people on Christmas Island.

From GLW issue 781