The stress on Afghan and Tamil refugees waiting for their asylum claims to be processed in the Christmas Island Detention Centre is taking its toll.
Last November, a fight broke out and 11 Tamil and two Afghan refugees were later charged. ABC News reported in January that the minister responsible, Senator Chris Evans, had threatened visa "consequences" for those found guilty.
The magistrate did not instruct how the accused were to be treated, but the 11 Tamils were taken to the Red Compound — a maximum security section where even the toilets house surveillance cameras.
Green Left Weekly contacted the immigration department to ask about the conditions facing those in the Red Compound. A spokesperson said it is used when there are concerns about behavior that posed a risk to the person or others.
The use of cameras in toilets was not routine, he said, except when the risk posed was serious. GLW was informed that these asylum seekers have since been moved to the Alpha Compound, an "ordinary" holding area.
People in the Alpha Compound have told refugee advocates it was very crowded: 100 refugees are forced to share two computers; phone calls are limited to 10 minutes a day and mobile phones are banned.
Meanwhile, the 254 refugees on the boat in Merak harbour in Indonesia continue to exist without adequate food, medicine or a commitment from the Indonesian and Australian governments to the processing of their asylum claims.
The Tamil advocacy organisation Canadian Hart reported on February 8 that International Organisation for Immigration (IOM) had agreed to dispense medicine as long as people disembarked. Four men did so only to be beaten by Indonesian police.
The Indonesian government is continuing to block humanitarian supplies to the boat
and the authorities are becoming increasingly violent. Manju, who is pregnant and close to term, has not been given a commitment by the Indonesian authorities that she will be able to safely give birth to her baby.
On February 10 Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Sydney-based Refugee Action Coalition, again called on the IOM "to provide urgently needed humanitarian aid to the people on the boat".
"The IOM, which is funded by Australia to provide assistance to asylum seekers in Indonesia, should immediately return to the boat to provide this support."
RAC called a rally in support of the refugees on March 10 outside PM Kevin Rudd's office in Phillip Street, Sydney. Visit refugeeactioncoalitionsydney.wordpress.com