Students in Detention

Imagine if you missed too many classes or worked over 20 hours a week and were sent to jail, where you work long hours for a pitance...

Last year on Saturday 5^th November, I went to Villawood Detention Centre with other student representatives from UTS, University of Western Sydney, University of Newcastle and a student from the Catholic University to visit international students detained at Villawood Detention Centre.

This was my first visit to Villawood Detention Centre. What a depressing and heartbreaking place it is.

Seeing all these people, who are not only completely harmless but also utterly defenceless and whose biggest crime is to look for a better place to live, being locked up behind razor wire in a high security prison, as if they are dangerous and vicious criminals. It is abhorant.

Once in Villawood we went into Stage Two, there we were received by a group of 7 international students. These students are from Bangladesh, Nepal and China. Two Chinese students were only High School students at the time they were detained by DIMIA’s officers. There is another international student in Stage One, we were told, his name is Ali and he is from Pakistan.

While I was there I really wanted to talk to each of the students, I wanted to get their personal stories and the exact reasons for their detention;but, unfortunately, in one visit that was impossible. Therefore the information that I have on each of these students is rather incomplete. Below I have provided a list of the students’ names and their codes.

During the afternoon we talked with the two Chinese High School students. Zhu Yan, female, 21 years old, has been there for five months. She came to Australia to do studies when she was 16 years old. It appears to be that Zhu Yan is the only female international student detained at Villawood.

The other High School Chinese student is a boy and he is seeking refugee status.

This afternoon we also spoke to a very interesting, positive, strong-minded, supportive and probably the most intellectually capable student I have met lately. Motahar Hussein from Bangladesh. He was invited to this country to pursue studies in Information Technology at Charles Sturt University at the Wagga Wagga Campus. Motahar Hussein was detained on the 29 June 2004 and since then he has remained in Villawood Detention Centre.

An interesting characteristic of Motahar is his legal knowledge, and although he is not a Law Student, his capacity for writing clear and intelligent legal arguments is truly admirable. At that time Motahar was fighting, unaided, a case in the Federal Court of Australia in New South Wales, where he is the applicant and the respondent are the following parties:

Secretary of the Department of Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs (first respondent),

DIMIA Manager for Villawood Immigration Detention Centre (second respondent),

Global Solutions Ltd (GSL) which runs the detention centres (third respondent), Delaware North Companies Australia Pty Ltd (DNCA) (fourth Respondent) and;

The Commissioner of Federal Police (fifth Respondent).

Briefly, Motahar Hussein’s claim is that illegal work is taken place within the detention centre.

According to Hussein, detainees are forced to work long hours by GSL and DNCA who pay the detainees very little. Hussein’s claims that this contravenes section 235 (3) & (5) of the Migration Act. Section 235 (3) of the Migration Act establishes that: An unlawful non-citizen who performs work in Australia whether for reward or otherwise commits an offence against this subsection. And Section 235(5) establishes that: The penalty for an offence against subsection (1), (3) or (4) is a fine not exceeding $10,000.

The other parties to this complaint have failed, according to Hussein, in their duties of care and have allowed this unlawful activity to happen within the detention centre. Detainees will work for phone cards, cigarettes, etc. Hussein also claims that safety conditions and work cover are of some issue.

It is essential to mention that Motahar Hussein has done all his legal work and prepared legal documents without the assistance and support of proper legal material and resources. According to Hussein, the lack of legal material available made his work extremely difficult and subject to failure due to lack of proper legal resources.

In his effort to gain access to proper legal resources, Hussein, on 22^nd August 2005 wrote a letter to the Secretary of DIMIA requesting to have access to legal resources such as Acts, Regulations, ByLaws, Case laws, internet access, computers, and printers: to facilitate legal research and or to prepare legal or other documents.

The afternoon went very quickly and it was time to leave as two and a half hours of travel were awaiting us Newcastle students. It was a really incredible day, full of emotions and diverse feelings. However, I believe all of us enjoyed each other’s company and conversation.

These students, in my view, were quite happy to see and to converse with other fellow students; I really believe they appreciated our presence there. I am certain that they would be happy to see us again or any others visiting them. I left with the impression that they feel less abandoned and less lonely when someone from the outside world shows them that someone is concerned about their existence.

Before I finish, I just want to add that writing a report on our visit to Villawood is NOT ENOUGH. Letting all of you know that 8 students are detained in a Detention Centre and that we visited them is inadequate. Informing you about this unjust situation, in my view, is the minimum response that a student leader can give.

I have already informed the president of our students’ association about this and I have also discussed with a few members of the International Student Department of our Students’ Association. A few possible ideas come out of this conversation, such as to run a campaign to collect legal material to support Hussein’s legal work and also to send press releases condemning the act of incarcerating international students in High Security prisons merely because they have breached visa conditions 8202 (academic results or attendance) or 8105 (working more than 20 hour a week) and so on.

Therefore, I call on all those concerned about “the harsh and punitive legislation applied to overseas students, including their detention”¹to do something to stop this cruel, inhumane and appalling trend taking place within our educational system.

Finally, I believe it would be very important to hear soon the responses of the National & State Union of students and the national peak body of international students. I would like also to hear from academics, universities staff and all those who are concerned about human rights to also condemn the unjust and unfair treatment given to international students in Australia.

In Solidarity,

Veronica Meneses

List of International Students Names:

1. Shankar Shrestha (11135)

2. Sukur Muhamed (16801)

3. Li Qiwei (6310)

4. Guo Zhong Jian (12947)

5. Zhu Yan (15113)

6. Mothahar Hussein (5594)

7. Ashish Sen

8. Ali in Stage One (Pakistan)