Villawood death sparks renewed calls to end mandatory detention

In appeal to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, protesters chanted Kevin 08 - open the gate, renewing their calls for the centre to be closed and for Australia's mandatory immigration detention laws to be repealed. Villawood has been described as Australia's "most prison-like" detention facility, with a history of long-running hunger strikes and mass-escapes.

The :: Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) said a 62-year-old Iranian male detainee died of a heart condition on Friday, 11. Jan 2008. The man had been awaiting deportation for three months. Despite pleas from other detainees for the man to be placed in hospital care, he was left at the centre for his health to deteriorate to the point at which he died. The Immigration department said the Iranian man was receiving medical treatment while in detention in order to make him well enough to be deported.

RAC said the new federal government must implement the recommendations of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (:: HREOC) to repeal Australia's harsh mandatory immigration detention laws. RAC says Stage One (the highest security area of the detention facility) was "a punishment unit that epitomises the hellhole that is Villawood". (:: Letter from Stage One detainees, Villawood - November 2007).

The Government is also under pressure to consider closing Villawood altogether, with reports that the location is "inhumane and unfair". Last week Immigration Minister Chris Evans called on the department to seek improvements to the centre, after :: Human HREOC described conditions at a section of Villawood as "prison-like" and renewed calls to shut it down. (:: HREOC Report)

(Source :: perth.indymedia.org, 16. Jan 2008)

Villawood death sparks action against mandatory detention

Protesters have rallied outside Sydney's Villawood immigration detention centre following the death of a detainee. The group on Tuesday renewed their calls for the centre to be closed and for Australia's mandatory immigration detention laws to be repealed.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Mark Goudkamp said a 62-year-old Iranian male detainee died of a heart condition in St George Private Hospital on Sunday after being taken there on Friday.

Known as "Pishehvar", the man had been awaiting deportation for three months, Mr Goudkamp said. Despite pleas from other detainees for the man to be placed in hospital care, he was left at the centre for his health to deteriorate to the point at which he died.

Mr Goudkamp said the new federal government must implement the recommendations of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to repeal Australia's mandatory immigration detention laws.

About 25 people, including NSW Greens MP Sylvia Hale, attended Tuesday's rally calling for Villawood to be closed as a detention centre and reopened as a migrant hostel, he said.

Immigration department spokesman Sandy Logan said the Iranian man was receiving medical treatment while in detention in order to make him well enough to be deported.

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Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul said Stage One (the highest security area of the detention facility) was "a punishment unit that epitomises the hellhole that is Villawood".

Last week Immigration Minister Chris Evans called on the department to seek improvements to the Villawood detention centre, after the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) labelled the facility a "disgrace". One of the recommendations being prepared by the department is that Villawood be scrapped and replaced with another facility.

The Government is also under pressure to consider closing Villawood altogether, with pressure groups suggesting the location is inhumane and unfair to those left behind in its surrounds. In 2001, 40 asylum seekers escaped from the facility, with the ABC's Four Corners program reporting cases of hunger strikes by children as young as eleven.

(Source :: perth.indymedia.org, 16. Jan 2008, for further information follow the link)