Australia’s leaders incapable of protecting children

Burma? China? El Salvador? The Congo?

Think again.

Last month Amnesty International called for more detail about the Prime Minister’s discussions with East Timor to establish a so-called “regional processing centre”.

“If what the Government has in mind is simply a re-badged Pacific solution then this is of course unacceptable,” said Amnesty International Australia’s National Director Claire Mallinson.

“It was shown clearly under the Howard government that simply pushing boat arrivals to another country does not work and that this is a violation of Australia’s international obligations on how to process asylum claims.”

The Australian Greens are now saying that Australia needs a Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People to protect the children in prisons in this country that Australia’s leaders seem incapable of providing.

Senator Hanson-Young, Greens spokesperson on Youth, Immigration and Human Rights, says the presence of nearly 700 children in detention is an example of an Australian political culture that is not watching out for young people.

Here are some dictionary definitions of detention:

1. The act of detaining.

2. The state or a period of being detained, especially:

a. A period of temporary custody while awaiting trial.

b. A period of confinement to a detention home.

c. A form of punishment by which a student is made to stay after regular school hours.

3. A forced or punitive delay.

Why is Australia doing this to children? What are we afraid of?

“The mark of any Prime Minister – or potential Prime Minister – is that they will look after the most vulnerable in the community, and children are amongst the most vulnerable in any community,’’ Senator Hanson-Young said.

“Yet reports on the Leonora detention centre in Western Australia – where children are being held – suggest conditions are even worse than the notorious centres at Baxter and Port Hedland.

“The problem is that we can’t trust either Tony Abbott or Julia Gillard to protect kids, and we can’t trust them to keep them out of detention.

“That’s why the Greens will bring on a bill to establish a Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People in the new parliament.’’

The Commissioner would tackle serious problems such as child abuse, neglect, poor education, poverty, youth homelessness and social disadvantage. The Commissioner would provide a voice for young people, a means of communication with Government, and a simple avenue for complaint for ill-treatment.

“Whether it is children in child care or state care, in the education system, the juvenile justice system, immigration detention or the homeless, whether they are in big cities, small towns or outback communities, all young people deserve to have someone looking out for their interests.

“The Greens will stand up for children’s rights – the question is why won’t Labor or the Coalition?’’

In 2009, approximately 2,700 asylum seekers arrived in Australia by boat. In that year, a total of about 180,000 people were accepted into Australia as migrants.

“In all of the heated and irrational debate about the asylum seeker issue in Australia, important facts like these are too often obscured or ignored,” said Claire Mallinson from Amnesty International.

Article 37 from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:

States Parties shall ensure that:

(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age;

(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;

(c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child’s best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances;

(d) Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt decision on any such action.