Asylum seekers on Christmas Island are more depressed, scared and anxious than those being housed in the world's second-largest refugee camp, says Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Senator Hanson-Young, who has been on the island for four days after visiting the Za'atari camp on the Syrian border, says the Abbott government is creating a new generation of damaged asylum seekers.

She cited the case of a four-year-old Iranian girl who arrived on Christmas Island ''bubbly and talkative'' six months ago, but who had now withdrawn completely, and could only utter the word ''jail'' during a 30-minute encounter.

The senator also claimed children on Christmas Island were not being sent to school and were becoming more depressed and vulnerable as they saw their parents' state deteriorate and, in some cases, resort to self-harm.

Many of those on Christmas Island had been there six months or more without any indication of when their claims for refugee status would begin to be assessed, Senator Hanson-Young said. And Australia faced a ''baby boom'' of stateless children with as many as 100 pregnant women in detention.

She said both Nauru and Manus Island were completely ill-equipped to meet the needs of almost 2000 Christmas Island asylum seekers, who would be transferred to these detention centres under the government's ''no exceptions'' policy.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has consistently defended the deterrent-based ''stop the boats'' policy, saying it was responsible for the dramatic drop in arrivals at Christmas Island.

Although Senator Hanson-Young was forbidden from taking photographs of those in detention on the island, she was given a self-portrait of the girl behind a fence.

''I've never experienced a child of that age so depressed and so inside herself,'' she said of the child, whose pregnant mother was transferred to Darwin three months ago and was unable to speak to her husband or daughter for a month of that time.

''Most of the families I spoke to have been here at least six months and are at a crashing point mentally, physically, emotionally,'' she said. ''The certainty of being sent to Manus or Nauru is weighing heavily on their minds.

''I can't see how they can last much longer in detention as capable and healthy people. It is already at breaking point.''

While she described Christmas Island conditions as similarly harsh to those at refugee camps she visited in Lebanon and Jordan, she said the level of anxiety on Christmas Island was ''so much worse''.

''When I was in Jordan in the Za'atari camp, with 120,000 Syrian refugees, they feel safe and the whole camp is run to help people. Here people are being punished and they know they're being punished. The attitude is very different.''

She said it was summed up by a 15-year-old Syrian boy who had asked her why he was being punished. The boy wanted to study to be a doctor and told of seeing many dead bodies outside his home before his family fled.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christmas-island-detainees-vulnerable-senator-hansonyoung-20140127-31iy1.html

one of the replys



Morrison's campaign of fear directed at these highly vulnerable and helpless people has been pretty successful at turning an Australian people who have shown compassion and sympathy for earlier generations of asylum seekers who came by boat, into nasty, frightened, xenophobic children without the capacity for rational thought. He has fed fabrications into the public space that have vilified and blackguarded some of the most vulnerable people on the planet by spreading falsehoods about them which are carefully calculated to create and sustain those fears. Each and every one of those falsehoods and fabrications has been demonstrated, over and over again, to be exactly that, but the hysteria generated by the repetition of them does no credit to the Australian people's capacity to discriminate obvious falsehoods from the truth nor to their sense of compassion for suffering human beings.
The simple repetition by Morrison and his odious acolytes that these are "economic migrants" and that they are wealthy people buying favouritism in some mythical queue, are simply straightforward lies, but are carefully calculated to appeal to what remains of the Australian distaste for unfairness. They work a treat with a public too lazy to learn the truth and too committed to simple, one size fits all, answers.
CommenterLesm Location Balmain Date and time January 28, 2014, 7:13AM

____ wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 6:42am:

Asylum seekers on Christmas Island are more depressed, scared and anxious than those being housed in the world's second-largest refugee camp, says Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Senator Hanson-Young, who has been on the island for four days after visiting the Za'atari camp on the Syrian border, says the Abbott government is creating a new generation of damaged asylum seekers. She cited the case of a four-year-old Iranian girl who arrived on Christmas Island ''bubbly and talkative'' six months ago, but who had now withdrawn completely, and could only utter the word ''jail'' during a 30-minute encounter. The senator also claimed children on Christmas Island were not being sent to school and were becoming more depressed and vulnerable as they saw their parents' state deteriorate and, in some cases, resort to self-harm. Many of those on Christmas Island had been there six months or more without any indication of when their claims for refugee status would begin to be assessed, Senator Hanson-Young said. And Australia faced a ''baby boom'' of stateless children with as many as 100 pregnant women in detention. She said both Nauru and Manus Island were completely ill-equipped to meet the needs of almost 2000 Christmas Island asylum seekers, who would be transferred to these detention centres under the government's ''no exceptions'' policy. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has consistently defended the deterrent-based ''stop the boats'' policy, saying it was responsible for the dramatic drop in arrivals at Christmas Island. Although Senator Hanson-Young was forbidden from taking photographs of those in detention on the island, she was given a self-portrait of the girl behind a fence. ''I've never experienced a child of that age so depressed and so inside herself,'' she said of the child, whose pregnant mother was transferred to Darwin three months ago and was unable to speak to her husband or daughter for a month of that time. ''Most of the families I spoke to have been here at least six months and are at a crashing point mentally, physically, emotionally,'' she said. ''The certainty of being sent to Manus or Nauru is weighing heavily on their minds. ''I can't see how they can last much longer in detention as capable and healthy people. It is already at breaking point.'' While she described Christmas Island conditions as similarly harsh to those at refugee camps she visited in Lebanon and Jordan, she said the level of anxiety on Christmas Island was ''so much worse''. ''When I was in Jordan in the Za'atari camp, with 120,000 Syrian refugees, they feel safe and the whole camp is run to help people. Here people are being punished and they know they're being punished. The attitude is very different.'' She said it was summed up by a 15-year-old Syrian boy who had asked her why he was being punished. The boy wanted to study to be a doctor and told of seeing many dead bodies outside his home before his family fled. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christmas-island-detainees-vulnerable-senator-hansonyoung-20140127-31iy1.html

Wow, four days at Christmas Island and a quick stop at a refugee camp makes her an expert! Yeah, right. Her comments thus far on this issue show she still clearly has no freaking idea.  ::)

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 6:46am:

____ wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 6:42am: Asylum seekers on Christmas Island are more depressed, scared and anxious than those being housed in the world's second-largest refugee camp, says Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Senator Hanson-Young, who has been on the island for four days after visiting the Za'atari camp on the Syrian border, says the Abbott government is creating a new generation of damaged asylum seekers. She cited the case of a four-year-old Iranian girl who arrived on Christmas Island ''bubbly and talkative'' six months ago, but who had now withdrawn completely, and could only utter the word ''jail'' during a 30-minute encounter. The senator also claimed children on Christmas Island were not being sent to school and were becoming more depressed and vulnerable as they saw their parents' state deteriorate and, in some cases, resort to self-harm. Many of those on Christmas Island had been there six months or more without any indication of when their claims for refugee status would begin to be assessed, Senator Hanson-Young said. And Australia faced a ''baby boom'' of stateless children with as many as 100 pregnant women in detention. She said both Nauru and Manus Island were completely ill-equipped to meet the needs of almost 2000 Christmas Island asylum seekers, who would be transferred to these detention centres under the government's ''no exceptions'' policy. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has consistently defended the deterrent-based ''stop the boats'' policy, saying it was responsible for the dramatic drop in arrivals at Christmas Island. Although Senator Hanson-Young was forbidden from taking photographs of those in detention on the island, she was given a self-portrait of the girl behind a fence. ''I've never experienced a child of that age so depressed and so inside herself,'' she said of the child, whose pregnant mother was transferred to Darwin three months ago and was unable to speak to her husband or daughter for a month of that time. ''Most of the families I spoke to have been here at least six months and are at a crashing point mentally, physically, emotionally,'' she said. ''The certainty of being sent to Manus or Nauru is weighing heavily on their minds. ''I can't see how they can last much longer in detention as capable and healthy people. It is already at breaking point.'' While she described Christmas Island conditions as similarly harsh to those at refugee camps she visited in Lebanon and Jordan, she said the level of anxiety on Christmas Island was ''so much worse''. ''When I was in Jordan in the Za'atari camp, with 120,000 Syrian refugees, they feel safe and the whole camp is run to help people. Here people are being punished and they know they're being punished. The attitude is very different.'' She said it was summed up by a 15-year-old Syrian boy who had asked her why he was being punished. The boy wanted to study to be a doctor and told of seeing many dead bodies outside his home before his family fled. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christmas-island-detainees-vulnerable-senator-hansonyoung-20140127-31iy1.html Wow, four days at Christmas Island and a quick stop at a refugee camp makes her an expert! Yeah, right. Her comments thus far on this issue show she still clearly has no freaking idea.  ::)

And your qualifications are ...

And you have a real idea on these camps?

;D :D ;D :D ;D :D

____ wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 6:48am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 6:46am: ____ wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 6:42am: Asylum seekers on Christmas Island are more depressed, scared and anxious than those being housed in the world's second-largest refugee camp, says Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Senator Hanson-Young, who has been on the island for four days after visiting the Za'atari camp on the Syrian border, says the Abbott government is creating a new generation of damaged asylum seekers. She cited the case of a four-year-old Iranian girl who arrived on Christmas Island ''bubbly and talkative'' six months ago, but who had now withdrawn completely, and could only utter the word ''jail'' during a 30-minute encounter. The senator also claimed children on Christmas Island were not being sent to school and were becoming more depressed and vulnerable as they saw their parents' state deteriorate and, in some cases, resort to self-harm. Many of those on Christmas Island had been there six months or more without any indication of when their claims for refugee status would begin to be assessed, Senator Hanson-Young said. And Australia faced a ''baby boom'' of stateless children with as many as 100 pregnant women in detention. She said both Nauru and Manus Island were completely ill-equipped to meet the needs of almost 2000 Christmas Island asylum seekers, who would be transferred to these detention centres under the government's ''no exceptions'' policy. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has consistently defended the deterrent-based ''stop the boats'' policy, saying it was responsible for the dramatic drop in arrivals at Christmas Island. Although Senator Hanson-Young was forbidden from taking photographs of those in detention on the island, she was given a self-portrait of the girl behind a fence. ''I've never experienced a child of that age so depressed and so inside herself,'' she said of the child, whose pregnant mother was transferred to Darwin three months ago and was unable to speak to her husband or daughter for a month of that time. ''Most of the families I spoke to have been here at least six months and are at a crashing point mentally, physically, emotionally,'' she said. ''The certainty of being sent to Manus or Nauru is weighing heavily on their minds. ''I can't see how they can last much longer in detention as capable and healthy people. It is already at breaking point.'' While she described Christmas Island conditions as similarly harsh to those at refugee camps she visited in Lebanon and Jordan, she said the level of anxiety on Christmas Island was ''so much worse''. ''When I was in Jordan in the Za'atari camp, with 120,000 Syrian refugees, they feel safe and the whole camp is run to help people. Here people are being punished and they know they're being punished. The attitude is very different.'' She said it was summed up by a 15-year-old Syrian boy who had asked her why he was being punished. The boy wanted to study to be a doctor and told of seeing many dead bodies outside his home before his family fled. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christmas-island-detainees-vulnerable-senator-hansonyoung-20140127-31iy1.html Wow, four days at Christmas Island and a quick stop at a refugee camp makes her an expert! Yeah, right. Her comments thus far on this issue show she still clearly has no freaking idea.  ::) And your qualifications are ...

Unlike her... and you, I have a brain! Oh, and I know how to use it!!!

“I have a brain! Oh, and I know how to use it!!!”

Then I suggest you start using it.

Four days?  Julie Bishop managed to go to a detention centre and passed judgement on the conditions without actually visiting them. 

Definitely more qualified to pass judgement than the current minister, that's for sure.

Christmas Island is Club Med compared to that refugee camp. Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities. None of this exists in a hastily-constructed temporary refugee camp. Oh and one other thing - no one forced them to come even after they knew they'd end up there if they survived the voyage!!!  ::)

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:21am:

Christmas Island is Club Med compared to that refugee camp. Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities. None of this exists in a hastily-constructed temporary refugee camp. Oh and one other thing - no one forced them to come even after they knew they'd end up there if they survived the voyage!!!

Have fun finding sources for all of that.

I eagerly await where you got this information.

Stratos wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:22am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:21am: Christmas Island is Club Med compared to that refugee camp. Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities. None of this exists in a hastily-constructed temporary refugee camp. Oh and one other thing - no one forced them to come even after they knew they'd end up there if they survived the voyage!!!  Have fun finding sources for all of that. I eagerly await where you got this information.

Oh, almost forgot - there's no roving death squads raiding the Christmas Island detention centre and no need for soldiers to guard the centre!!!

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:32am:

Stratos wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:22am: Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:21am: Christmas Island is Club Med compared to that refugee camp. Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities. None of this exists in a hastily-constructed temporary refugee camp. Oh and one other thing - no one forced them to come even after they knew they'd end up there if they survived the voyage!!!  Have fun finding sources for all of that. I eagerly await where you got this information. Oh, almost forgot - there's no roving death squads raiding the Christmas Island detention centre and no need for soldiers to guard the centre!!!

Oh, does this mean you were lying?  Any links or sources?

Stratos wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:33am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:32am: Stratos wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:22am: Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:21am: Christmas Island is Club Med compared to that refugee camp. Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities. None of this exists in a hastily-constructed temporary refugee camp. Oh and one other thing - no one forced them to come even after they knew they'd end up there if they survived the voyage!!!  Have fun finding sources for all of that. I eagerly await where you got this information. Oh, almost forgot - there's no roving death squads raiding the Christmas Island detention centre and no need for soldiers to guard the centre!!! Oh, does this mean you were lying?  Any links or sources?

Did anyone force these people to come? No. Did they know they faced lengthy stays in detention if they survived the voyage? Yes. It's not Club Med and it's not meant to be a holiday resort, either. It's meant to deter people from coming by boat.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:40am:

Yes. It's not Club Med

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:21am:

Christmas Island is Club Med

Would you like to quit before embarrassing yourself further, or would you like me to grab you a shovel?

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:32am:

Stratos wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:22am: Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:21am: Christmas Island is Club Med compared to that refugee camp. Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities. None of this exists in a hastily-constructed temporary refugee camp. Oh and one other thing - no one forced them to come even after they knew they'd end up there if they survived the voyage!!!  Have fun finding sources for all of that. I eagerly await where you got this information. Oh, almost forgot - there's no roving death squads raiding the Christmas Island detention centre and no need for soldiers to guard the centre!!!

If you believe that there are roving death squads in refugee camps, wouldn't it stand to reason that you'd understand why asylum seekers make that dangerous journey to seek asylum Australia? And, maybe, why they should?

Stratos wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:42am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:40am: Yes. It's not Club Med Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:21am: Christmas Island is Club Med compared to that refugee camp. Would you like to quit before embarrassing yourself further, or would you like me to grab you a shovel?

Grow up...  :D :D :D

NorthOfNorth wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:47am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:32am: Stratos wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:22am: Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:21am: Christmas Island is Club Med compared to that refugee camp. Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities. None of this exists in a hastily-constructed temporary refugee camp. Oh and one other thing - no one forced them to come even after they knew they'd end up there if they survived the voyage!!!  Have fun finding sources for all of that. I eagerly await where you got this information. Oh, almost forgot - there's no roving death squads raiding the Christmas Island detention centre and no need for soldiers to guard the centre!!! If you believe that there are roving death squads in refugee camps, wouldn't it stand to reason that you'd understand why asylum seekers make that dangerous journey to seek asylum Australia? And, maybe, why they should?

Yet these people coming by boat aren't coming from refugee camps. They're coming from their homes after paying tens of thousands of dollars to get a seat on those boats. Real refugees don't have the means to do that.

____ wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 6:42am:

Asylum seekers on Christmas Island are more depressed, scared and anxious than those being housed in the world's second-largest refugee camp, says Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

The dumb mole should stop enticing the country shopping illegal’s to pay people smugglers and corrupt Indo police in a bid to get here.

::)

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 8:22am:

Real refugees don't have the means to do that.

Economic status does not change the legitimacy of a claim to asylum.

Also still looking for those sources?

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 7:21am:

Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities.

Come on, back yourself, lets hear some substance

why doesn SHY get all her greeny friends together and get them to put them up in their spare rooms.. of which I am sure they have plenty...

sick of her fantasy world she lives in.. go have a look and compare with the ones on the Turkish border right now.. I bet she wouldnt bloody dare.

If you had read the thread. . .SHY did visit those camps.

Stratos wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 8:35am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 8:22am: Real refugees don't have the means to do that. Economic status does not change the legitimacy of a claim to asylum. Also still looking for those sources? Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28th, 2014 at 7:21am: Detainees get a solid roof over their head, all the food they could want, made by chefs. They get internet and phone access, TV, computer games and classrooms for their kids. They have clean running water and toilets. They have top-notch medical care and facilities. Come on, back yourself, lets hear some substance

It does change whether or not they can afford to pay people smugglers... ;D ;D ;D

No substantiation of claims, and a deflection instead of an answer.

Very poor, even by your low standards.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 28^th, 2014 at 8:22am:

Yet these people coming by boat aren't coming from refugee camps. They're coming from their homes after paying tens of thousands of dollars to get a seat on those boats. Real refugees don't have the means to do that.

Whether that's true or not, (i.e. even as a 'hypothetical') according to your own statements on the matter, they are doing the right and logical thing... To avoid 'death squads in refugee camps'.