Quick Question: What's wrong with detention while determining refugee status?
Quick questions and answers from The UNSW Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law
Australia's indefinite detention and mandatory detention.
Kaldor Centre Director Prof Jane McAdam explains why Australia's detention centres are unlike any other #factsmatter.
Q: What is wrong with detaining people while we work out if they are #refugees?
A. Australia's indefinite and mandatory detention.
Well if if it is for a brief period simply to work out people's identity, check their health, check for anyt security concerns, then there's no problem.
But the issue in Australia is that we have a regime of indefinite and mandatory detention and that means we can detain people for the term of their natural life if we want to.
That is unheard of in the rest of the world.
In fact, on average in Australia, someone is held in immigration detention for 500 days. That's eighteen months whereas in Europe it is capped, often for 90 days or less.