human rights
Australia holds asylum seekers in immigration detention for an average of 689 days – “Cruel practice”
“Free them all” is written on the facade of a deportation hotel in Melbourne. Australia has been criticized for its strict immigration policy.
© Hasenkopf / Imago Images
Australia has been criticized for its strict immigration policy. The country sometimes keeps asylum seekers in immigration detention for several years.
Australia reportedly keeps asylum seekers in immigration detention for an average of 689 days — longer than any other western democracy. For comparison, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch cited the figures from the USA and Canada: 55 and 14 days, respectively. In Australia, the authorities even jailed 117 people for more than five years. Eight asylum seekers have spent more than ten years in immigration detention.
Australia’s strict asylum policy has long been internationally controversial. According to the Home Office in Canberra, there are currently 1,459 non-Australian citizens with unclear residence status in immigration detention. Human Rights Watch said, “Detaining people solely on the basis of their immigration status is harmful, expensive and ineffective as a deterrent to migration.” The government should stop punishing people who may have fled violence and injustice “and offer legally compliant alternatives”.
Tennis star Djokovic was taken to a deportation hotel in Australia
Elaine Pearson, director of Human Rights Watch in Australia, is quoted in a statement as saying that the world learned of Australia’s “cruel treatment of refugees and asylum seekers” during Novaj Djokovic’s encounter with the system. The tennis player’s entry requirements and vaccination status triggered a scandal during the Australian Open in January, which attracted a lot of attention from the media around the world.
Djokovic eventually had to spend time in a deportation hotel. What was a short, unpleasant episode for the tennis star has long been part of everyday life for some asylum seekers. In the deportation hotel in Melbourne, some asylum seekers have been held for months, some for over a year.
sources: “The Sydney Morning Herald”, Human Rights Watch