BY NYNKU TJILARI
BAXTER, South Australia — Ali wants to study calculus and become a computer programmer. But he spends so much time writing articles and letters to newspapers that his friends and family think he has a future in political journalism. At 15, his desire to study and learn impresses all who meet him.
But Ali can't even go to school. He is one of 332 refugees imprisoned in Baxter detention centre; 173 are awaiting deportation. The detention centre is 10 kilometres out of Port Augusta, past an army base and inside two tall and imposing electric fences.
The residents of Port Augusta say that the sunsets out there on the ranges are stunning. But the detainees at Baxter never see the sunset — all windows in the compounds look inwards. On the rare opportunities that detainees leave their compound to go to another section of the detention centre, they are taken in vehicles.
I went to visit Ali and his family. I was screened, cleared and escorted to the visitor centre. Inside the perimeter fences of Baxter, there are plenty of immigration department administration buildings, demountables with verandahs and shrubbery.
But you don't see any detainees. They are locked in family compounds, circular corrugated iron buildings with no windows, flanking a large and mainly unshaded grass area. Because of the height of the walls, all they see is a patch of sky directly overhead. I spent half an hour in one of those yards, and that was enough to feel disoriented and claustrophobic.
Ali regularly writes letters about the situation inside Baxter, and he is articulate and passionate about his plight. He and his mother spoke about the total control Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) guards have over every aspect of their lives.
While there are rules about treatment of detainees, guards regularly break them without fear of reprisal. Electricity is cut to the compounds for hours at a time. Guards leave the locked compounds unattended, denying detainees the chance to even ask questions or seek medical attention.
While some detainees have radios and televisions, ACM guards have removed aerials, rendering them useless. One woman was escorted to the local shopping centre. An ACM guard stood by and watched her spend her precious little money on perfume and other items, then, on returning to Baxter, informed her that she wasn't allowed to take what she'd bought into the compound.
Detainees who get angry, question the rules or are thought to be causing trouble are put in "behaviour management units", in effect, solitary confinement cells. These cells have also been used for people who are ill, who should be in hospital.
Recently, at least two people were returned from Adelaide hospital, on separate occasions — against the advice and pleading of doctors and psychiatrists. Rather than being returned to their family compounds where they would at least have that minimal but vital support, they were locked in the behaviour management units. One was a mother of a three-year old. She had not spoken for four months.
The detainees are not the only ones subject to "behaviour management". ACM guards who befriend detainees or play with children, are promptly moved to other sections, until they "lift their game". Detainees often become relaxed and comfortable around certain guards only to never see them again. Guards who are "too friendly" are fired, and prohibited from making any contact with detainees again.
There are two compounds for single men at Baxter. Since the detention centre fires over the new year period, the men in this compounds have not been allowed any visitors or phone calls. The day I was there was the first day they were allowed out after five weeks of isolation. Many are haggard and traumatised, but very relieved to be seeing family and friends again.
Many detainees get much hope and inspiration from knowing that people around the country are protesting their treatment and fighting for their freedom. They also get a lot out of the visits, phone calls and gifts that they receive from their support networks in the community.
Ali expressed concern at the idea of a protest targeting Baxter, saying that they would suffer. "The guards will wear that CERT [Combat and Emergency Response Team] uniform with batons, and will treat us all differently", he said. "There'll be many more guards, they'll lock us in our rooms and search us. We will lose electricity, phones, recreation, everything."
His mother said it is the government who must be targeted not the detainees or ACM guards. Any aggression or tension that the guards feel in the weeks following protests would be taken out on prisoners, she said, and the friendlier guards who refuse to comply with the immigration department's stepped up security measures will risk losing their jobs.
From Green Left Weekly, February 12, 2003.
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