The Appalling Asylum Seeker Conditions

[azureline**]

This is disgraceful and I can only hope the people who are in charge fix this asap.

An asylum seeker who was moved off Nauru to give birth is being locked up for 18 hours a day in a detention centre in Brisbane while her week-old baby remains in hospital with respiratory problems.

The case of Latifa, a 31-year-old woman of the persecuted Rohingya people of Myanmar, has shocked churches and refugee advocates.

She was separated from her baby on Sunday, four days after a caesarean delivery, and has since been allowed to visit him only between 10am and 4pm in Brisbane's Mater Hospital. The boy, named Farus, has respiratory problems and needs round-the-clock medical care.

Latifa is confined to the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation, 20 minutes away, where her husband and two children, four and seven, are being held.

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Latifa's husband, Niza, is not allowed to visit the child at all, according to people in daily contact with the family.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/asylum-seeker-mother-kept-from-newborn-baby-in...

[polksaladallie]

I agree.  Of course it is easier when the numbers are small.  But NZ seems to be hugely more humane.

[cherry*135]

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@polksaladallie wrote:

I agree.  Of course it is easier when the numbers are small.  But NZ seems to be hugely more humane.

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This story isn't about people who have applied and been accepted as genuine refugees though.

[polksaladallie]

The detainees in motels have not been assessed either.

[*crikey*mate*]

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@izabsmiling wrote:

'You should read history and look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing.

They always happen to the best men, you know.'

George Eliot

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and perhaps George Eliot could take this family under her wing..... oh wait....

when quoting the greats, it also helps to put their words into the context they intended.

She was an adulterous author living in a time when neither adultery or female authors were acceptable to mainstream society.

FGS Iza, no one is denying that the situation this family faced was not ideal, but your crusade has removed your ability for perspective  resulting in your failure to apply objective fact to the situation.

They are unprocessed detainees. They are not being ostracized, persecuted or subjected to martyrdom. your country is doing and has done it's best to protect you and the rest of the population and ensure long term sustainability and safety of same.

[polksaladallie]

   You are more likely to be eaten by a shark.

[*crikey*mate*]

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@am*3 wrote:

In response to one of polks comments: New Zealand has a different (better?) system for assisting refugees/asylum seekers settle in their new country. Being a much smaller country than Australia the number they accept is much lower.

Churches and charities support them in many ways to help them settle in their new country. See below.

The charities/churches help them source secondhand furniture & household items to buy or it may be donated to them.

Red Cross

Refugee Services Work

You can support a refugee family to build a new life in New Zealand!

Our refugee services volunteers complete a comprehensive training course and are placed in teams to work with newly arrived refugee families or individuals for their first 6 months in New Zealand. Volunteers are supported by staff throughout their placement and assist with tasks which include:

• setting up homes
• linking with Work & Income, schools, ESOL courses, local GPs
• orientating to the local community (facilities, public transport)
• providing ongoing support (hospital appointments, mail, Work & Income appointments, social visits)
• alerting our professional staff to particular needs or issues

If you want to help a family start again, learn about new cultures and meet new people, we’d love to hear from you. You will change a life, and maybe also your own.

Asylum seekers who arrive in New Zealand without proper documentation are often detained on arrival, to allow the government to confirm their identity and ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security or have criminal intentions. Once this has been established, such people may be "conditionally released" into the community.

They must live in an agreed location and report periodically to the authorities while they are awaiting the outcome of their application for refugee status.

People on conditional release have limited access to basic social entitlements and cannot be granted temporary Work Permits.

People who enter New Zealand with legal documentation (and subsequently apply for refugee status) are normally granted a Temporary Work Permit and are also eligible for a greater range of social security benefits.

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[izabsmiling]

my mum wrote: 

and perhaps George Eliot could take this family under her wing..... oh wait....

when quoting the greats, it also helps to put their words into the context they intended.

She was an adulterous author living in a time when neither adultery or female authors were acceptable to mainstream society.

and as such you dismiss her  and her words ?

pfffft 

[cherry*135]

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@polksaladallie wrote:

The detainees in motels have not been assessed either.

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That is not the current system/policy in place today.

[polksaladallie]

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@am*3 wrote:

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@polksaladallie wrote:

The detainees in motels have not been assessed either.

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That is not the current system/policy in place today.

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I understood that is was.    August 22, 2013

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/news/ryde-motel-home-to-100-iranian-asylum-seekers-waitin...

   Ryde motel home to 100 Iranian asylum seekers waiting for immigration screening

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-05-11/housing-asylum-seekers-in-motels-common-practice/430190

Housing asylum seekers in motels 'common practice'

[*crikey*mate*]

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@polksaladallie wrote:

The only reason they were not is Australia is because of the barbaric policies of this government and the last with the Manus/Nauru "solution".  Otherwise they might well have been housed in a motel.  Do you think that those off-shore detainees are more "dangerous" than those housed in Australia?  Your words suggest so.

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yes, I do believe that those housed offshore are more dangerous as their level of risk for threat to myself and surrounding communities has not yet been ascertained. Whereas those who are housed within the communities have been through enough checks to be sure that they pose minimal threat.

and whilst my advocacy for asylum seekers and refugees is well known I am also in favour of off shore processing if this is the way that my government believes it can best provide a safe environment for those in need and to also provide mey family and I with the security and protection that I often take for granted by being a member of Australian Society,

Even an immigrant is subjected to offshore processing just as you and I would be should we choose to live in another country.

oh, and BTW, the reason they were not in Australia is because they were neither born here or granted permission to reside here.

Don't make out that Australia and its associated governments (past or present) are to blame for this. I'm pretty sure that most if not all countries have border protection policies and do not allow indiscriminate border crossings and residency entitlements.