Not appropriate for children to go to the zoo

[lurker172602]

Day trips for children in detention run by Catholic Nuns have been banned and deemed 'not appropriate' by the Immigration Department & Peter Dutton.

Day trips were led for the last 4 years by Sister Brigid Arthur, 81, of the Brigidine Sisters.

"[We'd] go to the Collingwood Children's Farm, go to the zoo occasionally, out to adventure playgrounds," Sister Brigid told 774 ABC Melbourne's Jon Faine. "Anything that actually can entertain the kids and give them some stimulation."

Sister Brigid said the program had been suspended by the ABF, which said it was "under review".

"We haven't actually been able to resume it, so presumably the review has ... had a negative outcome," Sister Brigid said

full article here

#notinmyname

[raptor_rebooted]

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@icyfroth wrote:

Are the Nun's trying to convert them to Christianity?

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looks like the nuns were not the

only ones involved in the program.

"It's not the nuns ... the nuns were part of a program called the Designated Persons Program, so it wasn't just those nuns there were other members of the community who were interested in the welfare of people at the MITA, which of course I welcome.

"But the types of activities and the places they were taking them to, we had no visibility of and no control over."

if the program was successfully running

for 4 years and suddenly there are 

supervision concerns, why not just assign

a supervising officer?

[lloydslights]

The Rules may not have been strictly adhered in the past.  Perhaps there is a new person on the job (not unlike an OHS officer) that is accountable and wants the children to be as safe as possible whilst under his/her authority.

DEB

[bluecat*dancing · Accepted solution]

We can't have children having a taste of normalcy, now can we? Afterall, happy children would make those pesky boat people arrive in droves, now, wouldn't they?

No child should be in a detention centre. Poor darlings, they deserve to be treated like children and not like hardened criminals.

[harley_babes_hoard]

for goodness sake, they are not being treated as hardened criminals. LOL. If that were the case they would be never allowed out to do anything.

the world has changed a great deal over the last 4 months.

[lurker172602]

Well theirs certainly has.  No more fun things like going to the adventure playground without a (probably) uniformed minder for them.

[bluecat*dancing]

A great deal has changed since 9/11 and does not justify the increasingly hard line, militarised approach that has been taken since Border Force came into existence in July [?]of this year. The Authorities have had to give permission before the kids and their families are allowed to leave the detention centres. There have been no incidences to indicate that security has been breached in any way or at any time. Armed security guards for excursions? Really?

Children need normalcy in which to thrive. They need respite from the psychological, and physical,  harm being caused by the detention centres. There should be no children in detention centres, full stop. The Senate has passed a bill for the removal of children from detention centres. Now it is up to the Upper House to do the right thing.

[lyndal1838]

Does that mean that the children are to be removed from their parents or that the parents will be removed from the Dentention Centres also?

Either scenario is opening a can of worms IMO.

[harley_babes_hoard]

Some here would think that it is ok for the children to be ripped away from their parents and into some sort of foster situation.

How is that any better for the child.

[the_great_she_elephant]

He said the nuns would be welcome to join Serco officers on existing excursions organised for detainees.

which rather begs the questions: what excursions do Serco organise for detainees and are they appropriate for children?

[bluecat*dancing]

I don't think you know how it works. There are already asylum seeker families in the community under the Community Detention Scheme. There are no cans of worms to be opened. There are alternatives to prison like detention centres and Dutton needs to let it go. He still has the Nauru Refugees, Christmas Island Asylum Seekers and the men on Manus for he and his "security squad" to play with.

You should be more worried about the violent crims that are given inadequate sentnces and then let back into society and go onto to brutally kill