30-541: Baxter Immigration Reception and Processing Centre or commonly just Baxter Detention Centre , was an Australian immigration detention facility near the town of Port Augusta in South Australia . It was the focus of much of the controversy concerning the mandatory detention of asylum seekers in Australia . Baxter Detention Centre was named after the nearby Baxter Range, a geographical feature which in turn
60-550: A visa , or deported. Towards the end of the 1990s, a large increase in the number of unauthorised arrivals exceeded the capacity of the existing Immigration Reception and Processing Centres (IRPCs) at Port Hedland and Curtin . Immigration detention centres detain people who have overstayed their visa, breached their visa conditions and had their visa cancelled or have been refused entry at Australia's entry ports. This includes irregular maritime arrivals claiming asylum without passports, identity papers or valid entry visas. Under
90-458: A "damning indictment of a policy meant to avoid Australia's international obligations". The Migration Act 1958 allowed discretionary detention of unauthorised arrivals until 1992. Since the 1990s when the Keating government created a policy of mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals , with non-citizens arriving by boat without a valid visa being detained until they were either granted
120-719: A deterrent and succeeded only as punishment . How much longer will children and their families be punished for seeking safety from persecution? In 2016 the Australian government announced an intention to exchange some proven refugees from either Nauru and/or Manus Island for certain displaced people presently in Central America as part of an agreement with the Obama administration of the United States. In early 2017 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that he
150-637: A heads up" that Australia was about to resettle men accused of brutally murdering two New Zealanders [among others]. After the Australian Liberal Party were re-elected in the 2019 Australian federal election , reports of despair and attempted self-harm and suicide were reported from Manus. The men had hoped with Labor in government, the New Zealand offer would be accepted and they would at last be resettled. By 4 June there had been at least 26 attempts at suicide or self-harm by men in
180-713: A number of different facilities throughout Australia , including the Australian territory of Christmas Island . Such facilities also exist in Papua New Guinea and Nauru , namely the Nauru Regional Processing Centre and the Manus Regional Processing Centre . They are currently used to detain people who are under Australia's policy of mandatory immigration detention . Asylum seekers detected in boats in Australian waters have been detained in facilities on
210-449: A telephone conversation between Trump and Turnbull had been acrimonious in relation to the "swap", and that Trump had terminated the call ahead of time. Trump has expressed admiration over the detention facilities, opining that the US should do the same. On 4 February 2019 the remaining 4 children who had been detained on Nauru were sent to the U.S. In May 2019, it was revealed that some of
240-447: A visa, unlawful non-citizens must be removed from Australia as soon as reasonably practicable. The Australian government claims that immigration detention is not used to punish people. Instead, they claim it is an administrative function whereby people who do not have a valid visa are detained while their claims to stay are considered or their removal is facilitated. There are, or were, centres located at: Immigration residential housing
270-669: Is in immigration detention. APOD may range from hospital accommodation in cases of necessary medical treatment, rented accommodation in the community (hotel rooms, apartments), or accommodation in the community made available through arrangements with other government departments. They may be located in all parts of Australia, including Christmas Island. Since the implementation of the Pacific Solution Australia also funded immigration detention centres on: Most facilities were operated by Australasian Correctional Management (a subsidiary of G4S ) under contract from
300-708: Is named after the explorer John Baxter who, ironically, arrived in Australia as a convict . It was located on a portion of the Australian Defence Force 's El Alamein Army Reserve that was nearest to Port Augusta. Following establishment expenditure of $ 44 million, Baxter Detention Centre became operational in September 2002. After it closed in August 2007, some of the buildings were removed and
330-653: The Department of Immigration until 2003, when ACM exited the market. Between 2003 and 2009, G4S was appointed as the contractor to manage a large number of facilities. Its contract was not renewed and in 2009 Serco Australia was awarded a five-year contract. Manus Regional Processing Centre was operated by the International Organization for Migration , then by G4S , then by Broadspectrum (formerly Transfield) with security sub-contracted to Wilson Security . Nauru Regional Processing Centre
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#1732790658120360-837: The United Nations . Journalists are forbidden from entering the detention centres. In January 2014, the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens accused the government of a cover-up over a violent clash on 18 October 2013 at the Manus Island facility between the Papua New Guinea army and the Papua New Guinea police mobile squad hired for the facility's security, leading to Australian expatriate staff being evacuated, while local staff and asylum seekers remained. On 5 May 2014, it
390-459: The Lorengau camps and Port Moresby (in the hospital and accommodation for sick asylum seekers). The PNG paramilitary police squad was deployed around one of the camps in an attempt to deter suicide and self-harm attempts. Lorengau general hospital has been handling many of the self-harm and suicide cases, despite the Australian government contract with Pacific International Health (PIH), because of
420-623: The Migration Act 1958, people arriving in this manner are classed as unlawful non-citizens and are currently subject to mandatory detention. However, in 1954 the Australian government ratified the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Under Article 31 of the convention, the Australian government is legally obligated to grant anyone fleeing persecution and seeking asylum the right to enter
450-508: The U.S. detainees sent to Australia in the "swap", were Rwandan men, former members of the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda , who had been accused of mass-murdering tourists in 1999. They had been held in U.S. immigration detention for over 15 years, but were on the verge of being released into the U.S. after a court ruled that their confessions had been obtained by torture. In November 2018
480-609: The centre was reopened in April 2010 to house around sixty Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers whose applications were suspended. In 2007 direct flights recommenced between Perth and Derby (RAAF Curtin) for the first time since Ansett Australia stopped the service in 1992. However, the flights ceased in February 2016. In 2016 and 2017 the Australian Government announced that facilities at Curtin would receive
510-469: The country by whatever means possible. Furthermore, the Article states that signatory countries are not to impose penalties on or indefinitely restrict the freedom of movement of those seeking asylum. Australia's Migration Act 1958 requires people who are not Australian citizens and who are unlawfully in Australia to be detained. Unless they are given legal permission to remain in Australia by being granted
540-552: The evacuation of 58 detainees, of whom 4 were treated for smoke inhalation. Minister for Immigration, Amanda Vanstone , said of the incident: "We don't expect however for people to resort to property damage as a way of handling that frustration and particularly property damage that can put the lives of others at risk." 32°32′34″S 137°40′43″E / 32.542807°S 137.678475°E / -32.542807; 137.678475 Australian immigration detention facility Australian immigration detention facilities comprise
570-530: The land returned to the Department of Defence. In May 2008, a public auction was held for the surplus material remaining in the complex. The centre was built by Fleetwood Portables in partnership with the Department of Immigration. Australasian Correctional Management was responsible for the administration of the centre. The centre suffered several arson incidents by protesting detainees, including on 12 November 2005, which caused extensive damage and forcing
600-502: The men were secretly brought to Australia. The Turnbull government knew about the allegations against the men when they agreed to accept them. The Australian and U.S. Governments initially refused to comment on the matter, but later Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the men had been assessed by security agencies. The former New Zealand foreign affairs minister Gerry Brownlee described Australia's behaviour as "incredibly insensitive" and said that New Zealand would have "appreciated
630-453: The offshore islands of Nauru and Manus Island , previously under the now defunct Pacific Solution and (since 2013 and as of March 2019 ) under Operation Sovereign Borders . The facilities' existence is controversial and has been condemned on human rights grounds and have even been likened to concentration camps by some critics and human rights groups. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has cited these centres as
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#1732790658120660-514: The seriousness of the cases. The police commander commented that they were doing all they could, but severe mental illness arose because of the effect of long-term detention on the men. RAAF Curtin RAAF Base Curtin , also sometimes RAAF Curtin ( IATA : DCN , ICAO : YCIN ) is a joint use Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base and civil airport located 19 nautical miles (35 km; 22 mi) southeast of
690-470: The town of Derby, Western Australia . As it is one of the RAAF's three bare bases , no RAAF units are permanently based at Curtin and it is maintained by a small caretaker staff during peacetime. The base is named in honour of former Prime Minister John Curtin . RAAF Curtin was the first new major military airfield to be built in Australia since World War II . Construction on the base began in 1983 and it
720-801: Was a form of immigration detention used until July 2023. The Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation opened in November 2007 and the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation opened in June 2008. Further immigration transit accommodation opened in Adelaide in 2011. ITCs were for short-term, low-risk detainees, however the Melbourne facility was extended with a high-security compound in 2018. Alternative Places of Detention (APOD) can accommodate any person who
750-423: Was a previously used form of immigration detention, which provided an option for accommodating people in independent family-style housing in a community setting while still formally being detained. This type of facility was one of several types of alternative residential accommodation for detained people, subject to them meeting eligibility criteria. They were previously located in: Immigration Transit Accommodation
780-468: Was confident the agreement would proceed, despite the change of President to Donald Trump . However, latest information appears to cast doubt on the willingness of the US government to honour any such agreement, especially in light of Trump's executive order suspending entry to the US from several countries. On 2 February 2017 Australian news outlets, quoting the Washington Post, reported that
810-498: Was once operated by G4S but is now operated by Serco as of April 2019. The facilities have been a source of much controversy during their time of operation. There have been a number of riots and escapes, as well as accusations of human rights abuses from organisations such as refugee advocates, Amnesty International , the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission , Human Rights Watch , and
840-493: Was opened on 11 June 1988 by Prime Minister Bob Hawke . The 25,000-hectare (62,000-acre) base was activated twice by the RAAF between 1988 and 2013. It was activated again in 2016 as part of Exercise Northern Shield. From the late 1990s the base operated as Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre , an Australian Government immigration detention centre , which closed in September 2002. However
870-520: Was operated by Broadspectrum and Wilson Security, and then later by Canstruct International (with a $ 591 million contract) and finally by a Nauruan Government Commercial Entity. The 3 new immigration detention facilities in Lorengau on Manus Island have security and some services provided by Paladin Group under a contract worth more than $ 423 million. Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre
900-540: Was reported that several Salvation Army staffers had alleged that refugees were regularly subjected to beatings, racial slurs, and sexual assaults within the facility. In March 2002, Irene Khan , the Secretary General of Amnesty International, said: It is obvious that the prolonged periods of detention, characterised by frustration and insecurity, are doing further damage to individuals who have fled grave human rights abuses. The detention policy has failed as
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