July 1, 2015 at 11:44 pm

The Australian Border Force Act 2015: a blight on the Australian Government and on the fundamental principles of democracy

The Australian Border Force Act 2015: a blight on the Australian Government and on the fundamental principles of democracy

By Annatina Aguiar

 

The Australian Border Force Act 2015 which commenced on 1 July 2015 is a very concerning piece of legislation because of its far-reaching consequences for democracy, truth and transparency in relation to Australia’s detention of asylum seekers. It seeks to severely restrict the freedom of speech of “entrusted persons” associated with any detention centre and as such, continues to violate the human rights of asylum seekers housed in Australian detention centres.

 

Section 42 of the Act is one of the most disturbing aspects of the Act, entitled “Secrecy”. Pursuant to section 42, a person who is an “entrusted person” commits an offence if he or she makes a record of, or discloses, what is termed “protected information”, without express permission from the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. An “entrusted person” is defined to mean government employees, consultants or contractors. “Protected information” means any information that a person comes across while working for, or in, detention centres.

 

 

Effectively these provisions seek to prevent doctors, teachers, counsellors, workers and others who have already voiced their concerns about the awful conditions suffered by detainees in detention centres from collecting information therein and then raising any concerns to anyone outside the detention centres.

 

It is yet another inexcusable measure by the Australian Government to hide the atrocities it is causing and facilitating within detention centres by continuing to detain refugees. Barrister Greg Barns indicated that the Act “effectively turns the Department of Immigration into a secret security organisation with police powers”. The Act goes further than any legislation in the country by seeking to eliminate any investigation of the Australian Government with respect to detention centres. It makes the Government too powerful, which is extremely troubling in a democratic country.

 

The Australian Government has already dehumanised refugees by labelling them “boat people”, “queue jumpers” and “illegal immigrants”.  The fact that asylum seekers are already being detained is a breach of their human rights. This process of dehumanisation is taken further within the centres where guards degrade inmates by referring to them as a number or a group of people by their boat IDs.

 

There are also a number of reports from social workers who worked at detention centres which indicate regular abuse by guards towards women and children within the detention centres, particularly in the Nauru detention centre. The Australian Government was aware of the physical and sexual assault of children and women for a very long time and certainly well before the Moss Review was commissioned and finalised.

 

By its ignorance of such abuse, it has systematically tolerated and even condoned such behaviour. What is worse, is that these children and women continue to remain in those same detention centres under the supervision of the offending guards. At the time, reports about these grave offences were made to the then Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison. Unfortunately nothing was done to protect those abused. With the introduction of the new legislation these victims will not only have no forum to voice the abuse they endure but more importantly, it will protect the abusers from any consequences.

 

Reza Berati was a 23 year-old Iranian asylum seeker who was killed on Manus Island during rioting at the Manus Island Detention Centre at the hands of those who were meant to protect him. The Manus Island Report identified various issues with the mismanagement of the centre for months before the death of Mr. Berati. It is a critical report because it details the disgusting conditions asylum seekers are enduring at the hands of the Australian Government as a result of the lack of transparency associated with dealing with asylum seekers. The Australian Government failed to protect him then. Now, more than a year after Mr. Berati’s death, it is continuing to flout its obligations to protect people by continuing to place people in these detention centres. The new legislation is a blatant “iron curtain of secrecy” that smashes any hope of transparency in relation to the detention of asylum seekers.

 

There has been an open letter regarding the Act from more than 40 current and former workers at Australia’s detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island to Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton and Bill Shorten in defiance of the Act. It is so encouraging to see so many individuals and collectives potentially putting their lives and freedom at risk for those who cannot have a voice anymore. Hopefully this will encourage Australians as a whole to stand up and fight against such injustices being caused by our very own government.

 

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Annatina Aguiar and her family left Bombay (as it was then called) almost 20 years ago, for the sunny shores of Sydney. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and International Relations/Sociology) and Bachelor of Laws from Macquarie University in 2007 and more recently with a Master of Laws at Sydney University in 2013. Annatina is now a commercial litigation lawyer in Sydney, with special interests in human rights and international law. When she is not working, she loves to cook, eat, read and catch up with friends.

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