Sarah Stephen, Sydney
On March 2, the immigration department reached an out-of-court settlement with the parents of an 11-year-old Iranian boy, Shayan Badraie, over his experiences in the Woomera and Villawood detention centres in 2000 and 2002.
After a 63-day NSW Supreme Court hearing, the federal government agreed to pay the Badraie family $400,000 for the psychological trauma and suffering inflicted on the boy. The government will also will have to pay the family's legal bill of more than $1 million.
Lead lawyer Rebecca Gilsenan, whose firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman took the case pro bono, told the media: "The government should not have detained innocent children that way — now the department of immigration has to face the consequences."
Badraie's suffering became a potent symbol of the cruelty of the immigration detention system when an ABC TV Four Corners program in August 2001 exposed his plight. Then aged six, Shayan had stopped talking and eating, having suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing suicide attempts and self-harm by detained refugees. He spent 94 days in hospital and still requires treatment.
An equally important victory was announced on March 2: the Badraie family of four was granted permanent Australian residence.
From Green Left Weekly, March 8, 2006.
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