Refugee Action Group Calls For Detention Center Releases

Broadmeadows Detention Center (Jason South/The Age)

The Refugee Action Collective is calling for the release of refugees held in the Preston Mantra Hotel, Broadmeadows detention centre and offshore because they are fearful of inadequate health care should COVID break out. Activist Chris Brown has said that refugees in detention centres are “terrified about the spread of COVID-19” which could “easily rip through the detention centres” due to the lack of health care and crowded nature of the centres. Chris Breen said that the detention centre in Broadmeadows already has a confirmed case of the virus with detainees in isolation without explanation.

“Refugees are fearful that they will be left to cope for themselves and they will not get any health care,” Chris Breen said in a video calling for the release. Chris Breen said that many refugees have physical and mental issues that cannot be improved with being held in detention centres during a COVID-19 outbreak.

The Refugee Action Collective’s calls have been backed by Doctors for Refugees who say refugees need to be released from detention urgently to prevent rapid transmission of the virus.

Dr Barri Phatarfod, co-founder of Doctors for Refugees, said that refugees being locked up in close confinement while citizens are being told to stay in their own homes is “not only cruel, callous and highly discriminatory, it is potentially exacerbating a public health crisis”

The calls have been dismissed by the Department of Home Affairs, saying plans have been established for dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks within detention.

“Detainees displaying any COVID-19 symptoms may be quarantined and tested in line with advice from health officials and in accordance with the broader commonwealth response” said a spokesperson for the Department. This includes a range of measures introduced “to keep detainees and staff informed of preventative measures and personal hygiene standards”

However, Dr Joshua Davis, president of The Australasian Society for Infection Diseases, says there is almost no infection control inside detention centres with necessities such as toilet paper, soap and hand sanitiser in short supply. Dr Davis said that 1400 asylum seekers and staff are at risk from an outbreak when being held in crowded conditions without proper social distancing or self-isolation.

“People are still being detained in shared and bunk rooms, with up to four people in a room,” said Dr Davis. “You can’t keep your distance from other people when you are locked up in crowded conditions.”