The federal government is being urged to reduce the number of people in immigration detention and close facilities on Christmas Island as part of recommendations from a new report showing the number of detainees in Australia increased after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its report looking at the management of COVID-19 risks in immigration detention, the Australian Human Rights Commission issued 20 recommendations to the federal government to better protect people in immigration detention from the virus.
The report, released on Wednesday, shows the number of people in Australian immigration detention in the six months to November 2020 increased by 11 per cent.
In comparison, the number in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States over a similar time period decreased by 39.5, 66.3 and 69 per cent respectively.
The report noted the average length of time spent in closed immigration detention in Australia has continued to increase, with Department of Home Affairs data showing in March 2021 the average stay was 641 days - the highest ever recorded.
The report found the number of people in detention in Australia has increased since the start of the pandemic. Source: Supplied
Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow said the department must urgently release people that pose a low security risk into community-based alternatives.
"One of the key recommendations we make is to reduce that number in immigration detention because that will allow the people who remain to practice physical distancing," he told SBS News.
"Immigration detention can be a very difficult experience. We know the risks for COVID-19 are high in immigration detention, so it’s very important we take an approach that maximises the human rights for people in detention."
Immigration detention facilities, like other places of detention, have been described as a high-risk setting for the spread of COVID-19.
The AHRC report found some facilities used for quarantine inside immigration detention were "harsh and prison-like", with no or very limited access to natural light, fresh air and outdoor space.
Mr Santow said he was concerned about the "operational quarantine" procedures in which detainees are locked down for two weeks after an offsite appointment.
“There are instances that we’re very concerned about, where someone in immigration detention is told that if they go out for a medical appointment that when they come back they’ll then have to spend 14 days in what’s known as operational quarantine. Unless there is a clear strong public health justification for quarantine it should not be used.”
The report also recommends all detention facilities on Christmas Island be decommissioned "as a matter of urgency".
Mr Santow said - which the government said would be used to provide "relief" across the network on mainland Australia - is not an appropriate solution to overcrowding at other facilities and the pandemic has created the potential for a catastrophic health risk for vulnerable detainees.
A view of the perimeter fence of the North West Point Detention Centre on Christmas Island, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Source: AAP
“It’s more than two and a half thousand kilometres away from the nearest capital city in Australia, [which is] Perth, and that means it’s a long way from acute medical facilities,” he said.
The government says it has contracted services to maintain the health and welfare of detainees on the island.
However, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre director of advocacy and campaigns Jana Favero said if that was the case, four-year old Australian-born Tharnicaa Murugappan .
“We’ve seen the inadequate medical facilities for Tharnicaa recently, but also for other refugees who suffer mental and physical impacts from being in detention. The issue is the government like putting people in detention because they’re out of sight and out of mind,” she said.
The Department of Home Affairs has responded to the report's recommendations, agreeing with six, agreeing in part with two, noting seven, and disagreeing with five.
In its response, the department wrote it “proactively continues to review the necessity for an individual’s continued detention” and the priority for the Australian Border Force is the health and safety of all detainees and staff.
It said its approach toward preventing COVID-19 outbreaks in detention facilities is based on medical advice, and that no detainee had contracted the virus across the network reassured it the measures being enforced are working.
The department said its operational quarantine procedures are informed by advice from its clinical advisory team and the Communicable Diseases Network Australia, and detainees put in lockdown have access to clothing, toiletries, their phones and other items.
The healthcare services for detainees on Christmas Island “are comparable to those available to the Australian community under the Australian public health system”, it added.
