Detaining Democracy: ASIO Openness or Secrecy?

A friend of mine working in a detention centre sent me information about a Sri Lanken refuge who lived in the community (why not the norm?) and was given a negative ASIO assessment without recourse, and returned to detention (jail). I say jail as I have been in a detention centre, and indeed it was jail. The grey area here is that people are not criminals the majority are fleeing violence or instability.

The interesting part of the story is that ASIO doesn’t appear to be required to inform the woman about the details of the assessment. This to me equates to having a judicial finding in a court case and not having it explained as to why the person is being sentenced. Moreover, giving them the right to appeal if they feel they are innocent. Intelligence and evidence can be erroneous or incorrect, the right to appeal enables a chance for people to prove their innocence. If you were they, would you not want that chance? It is suggested by the ABC that the woman is facing indefinite detention, thus surely removing her right to a response to an allegation is the removal of justice from the process. In my view she should be offered the reasons why she received a negative assessment and if it is found to be wrong, then an apology and compensation offered. To treat people who are not Australian citizens as having no human rights appears to be a trend in the intelligence or security community. They are not seen as legal entities that have a right to access equal treatment as if it were a service. It appears that only national identity and law is the buffer between democracy and totalitarian attitudes that remove human rights. I sense it as a real issue and have noted the many instances in other countries about how refugees (those seeking refuge) are treated. In a humane society we would be sensitive to the trauma they have gone through and seek to accommodate them. We have plenty of room in Australia. Moreover, if they are violent, why not look at ways to teach them another way, give them an experience of power (within) through self determination and education rather than force. More and more information is coming out where you see jailed inmates learning theatre and changing their belief of low self worth to equality, hence experiencing transformative changes. You see communities who have been in conflict learning conflict resolution skills to find they have the power to solve issues non violently. People are intelligent, 99% want a new life and to live in peace, in my view.

The story below raises issues about what is democracy? do we live it or give it lip service when it serves our interests? That would be my question.

My wish, as always, is for a compassionate world where we no longer demonise vulnerable people or cast them off as statistics, where we take responsibility and see the other as ourselves. To develop our sense of democracy in community and find unity as world citizens rather than predominantly economic beings protecting interests and applying rules without flexibility. Our greatest security is in compassion and understanding, building bridges of understanding. I want to say this again as the written word is often glided over.

Our greatest security
is in compassion
and understanding

What this means is when you have inner security, you are not afraid you have lived a life where you have a wide range of experiences and begin to see the world is not so black and white. You have learned to be balanced in your thinking with a confidence that problems can be solved.

Compassion is opening the heart to another. It is not rationally analysing or doing the right thing. It is to feel the other person and learn more about their story. Compassion equally applies to someone who has committed crime, to find a place where human beings meet not projections of the enemy or ‘not my problem’. Compassion follows the heart. It is not well understood and can be cast off as motherhood statements or over emotional. It is neither it is deep connectedness of heart and mind.

Understanding. This is to learn the facts of the situation from all perspectives. It is to understand the context from which people come, the journey and getting to know the person. To know their feelings, their beliefs, the reality they have faced. Again, you could be looking at someone who has been violent, again to look into the context of how that happened. Understanding stands in their shoes without judgement. Empathy enters the picture which has at its roots in respect.

Thus security, compassion and understanding would be the approach to arrivals fleeing difficult circumstances. The only way we will solve issues in this world is not by hating people or demonising them, it is by solving the problem and helping people to live in peace. In many cases they would want to live in their country, but don’t feel safe so they come here. If they are here to set up criminal networks then I think an international criminal court should deal with them and try them. To leave people in suspended animation with no redress is cruel and inhumane, is this who Australians are or are becoming? In my view until the Australian security intelligence agency and the Department of Immigration truly understand this without defensiveness or secrecy and with an attitude of openness (democracy), then they will make the same mistakes over again. This is the social dimension that is not understood.

Who ultimately pays the cost of this? The Australian taxpayer.

Here is the story from ABC’s Lateline.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3501264.htm

To view the ABC footage of the story just go to the link above.

Refugee family torn apart by ASIO

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 11/05/2012

Reporter: Steve Cannane

A Sri Lankan woman and her two boys, aged six and nine, have been placed in Villawood Detention Centre by a negative ASIO assessment after spending a year in the community as approved refugees.
Transcript
EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: A Melbourne-based family of refugees has been torn apart by a negative ASIO security assessment.

A Sri Lankan woman and her two young sons have been taken into Sydney’s Villawood Detention Centre after spending more than a year living in the community.

The family are unable to find out the reasons behind ASIO’s decision nor have they been able to appeal against it.

They’ve been granted refugee status, they cannot be sent back to Sri Lanka. Now, they face indefinite detention in Australia.

The woman’s husband, who has decided not to speak publicly, will find it very hard to visit his family as he is forced to remain in Melbourne for work.

Steve Cannane has this exclusive report.

STEVE CANNANE, REPORTER: When Sri Lankan refugee Ranjini got married last month, things were looking up. The widowed mother of two had been granted refugee status, released from detention, and had fallen in love with a man who could help care for her sons.

PAM NIELSEN, FAMILY FRIEND: Well, the first thing I remember about the wedding was the two little boys racing out to meet us with wide eyes, smiles, just very eager and very keen, very happy I think to have a new dad.

STEVE CANNANE: But tonight that family has been torn apart. After a year living in the community, Ranjini and her sons are back inside immigration detention after a negative ASIO assessment.

PAM NIELSEN: I thought, “Finally, she is going to have a good life and make a good life for her boys”. So to hear the news from Ganesh last night at 10 o’clock that she had been taken to Sydney detention camp was very upsetting and yes, I was shocked.

STEVE CANNANE: Yesterday Ranjini was called into an interview with immigration officials and asked to bring her sons. She took them out of their school in suburban Melbourne. They had no inkling they would be flown to Sydney and locked up. No goodbyes to friends and family, no chance to pack a suitcase.

Ranjini and her boys face a bleak future in detention. They and 46 other refugees with negative ASIO assessments are locked up indefinitely with no right of appeal. This morning one of the refugees attempted suicide at a detention facility in Melbourne.

IAN RINTOUL, REFUGEE ACTION COALITION: Kumar is one of the ASIO negative Tamil refugees. He has been in detention for 35 months. He has had a negative ASIO finding for longer than 12 months and this morning he attempted suicide in the Melbourne immigration transit accommodation centre, the detention centre in Melbourne.

STEVE CANNANE: In March, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Australia’s immigration detention network recommended that refugees like Kumar have a right to appeal ASIO decisions. The Attorney-General is yet to respond to the recommendation.

Tonight these boys face their second night of indefinite detention.

PAM NIELSEN: It saddens me of course and I’m not proud to be an Australian. (stifling tears) Sorry. When I think of their beautiful smiling happy faces. They were looking forward going to school in Melbourne, kicking footy with my husband in the backyard and knowing that they’re in a dark place now is very sad, and it’s not right.

STEVE CANNANE: Steve Cannane, Lateline.