Sarah Stephen
A peaceful protest by 15 Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained in the Baxter detention centre entered its 21st day on October 6, when one of the protesters, Sarath Amarasinghe, told Green Left Weekly that they were demanding a "positive answer" to their claims for asylum. "We came seeking freedom", he said, "but this is a jail. We get worse treatment than prisoners."
The men began their peaceful protest on September 15 to mark the third anniversary of their controversial arrival in Australian territory. "We are protesting the discrimination we have suffered", Amarasinghe said, referring to the way they were considered under legislation introduced two days after their arrival at the Cocos Islands, which categorised them as "offshore entry persons".
Held on the Cocos Islands and then Christmas Island for a year, they lodged a complaint with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), which found that the immigration department had violated their rights by assessing them under legislation that had not been passed when they first arrived.
They were brought to mainland Australia in September 2002 and allowed to lodge new claims, but Amarasinghe explained that they were all rejected without the opportunity for an interview to explain their cases. The immigration department based its assessment on the first interviews conducted a year earlier when the men first arrived on the Cocos Islands.
When they arrived on the mainland, Amarasinghe and another man were taken to Woomera. The rest of the asylum seekers were taken to Port Hedland. It was only when Port Hedland closed in May, with asylum seekers transferred to Baxter, that they were all together again.
Amarasinghe said that the peaceful protest was being conducted in the centre of Baxter's Blue 2 compound. One of three huts on the grassed area has been covered with placards and the men have put their mattresses inside the hut, where they rest and sleep.
Explaining how detention centre management Global Solutions Limited (GSL) had treated them during the protest, Amarasinghe said that for the first few days they had no problems. On September 28, HREOC officers came to see them, and within an hour of them leaving, GSL officers searched the rooms of five Sri Lankans.
Amarasinghe said that normally, routine room checks are random and only two rooms are checked each day. "When a detainee goes against management, they search their room for contraband. It's standard harassment."
"On September 1, two detention officers searched my room", Amarasinghe said. "They searched every corner. They took my screwdriver. I'm a computer technician, and I repair computers in the detention centre. They knew I had a screwdriver. They also took a homemade table lamp. They haven't given me a receipt for them, which is a rule."
Some time later, they wanted to check his room again. "I said no, because they hadn't given me a receipt for the things they took."
On October 3, 10 guards from the "quick response team" came to Amarasinghe's room and threatened to break his door down. "They asked about his laptop computer, which I'd sent off to be repaired. They still wanted to check my room, and I asked why. They said they were looking for contraband items. I asked for a list of contraband items, which they gave me. They checked my room for 45 minutes and found a Nokia battery, but it wasn't on the list! They said it could be used in a mobile. I told them I used it in computer repairs, but they still took it."
Amarasinghe said that while he was trying to get some rest, away from the flies, GSL guards started knocking on his door to check on him every hour, waking him up. He asked them not to, but they told him he was on observation. This happened for two days, then Amarasinghe said he gave up and decided to try to sleep outside on the grass.
He argues that the Australian government should allow the protesters to have their cases reviewed. More than anything, though, he said their protest is a plea to the Australian people to help them. "Everything is in the Australian people's hands."
You can fax GSL on (08) 8641 8436 to protest Amarasinghe's treatment and room searches, and the surveillance of Sri Lankan protesters.
From Green Left Weekly, October 13, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.