A CALL has gone out for volunteers to help normalise life for asylum seekers at Brisbane’s two “detention centres”.
Long-time advocate for refugees and asylum seekers and former information officer for Dutton Park’s Romero Centre Frederika Steen said the call was necessary as the “invisibility of these people meant their needs were often overlooked”.
Ms Steen said the men, women and children – 45 at the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation at Pinkenba and more than 100 in a wing of the Virginia Palms Motel, Boondall – needed support in such areas as the learning of English and familiarisation with Australian culture.
Her call was echoed by Romero Centre manager Faiza El-Higzi and volunteer co-ordinator Kerrie Manning.
Ms Steen said it had taken the Romero Centre a long time to gain official approval for visits to the centres.
“Now Serco, the international company in charge of detention centres around Australia, is very happy to have us involved,” she said.
“For a start we will be providing training and emotional support for these volunteers in what can be very draining work.”
The volunteers’ involvement will provide a valuable way for the community to be better informed on the asylum seekers’ stressful situation.
“These people can be in limbo for a very long time while the process of checking their eligibility is being carried out,” she said.
“It’s a process that is supposed to take about 90 days but this is not happening.
“There’s a bulge of detainees and the processing time has blown out to a year or more, depriving these people of their freedom.
“The objective is to have more people providing support socially while this long, long process is being carried out.
“This will ultimately help these people integrate into our communities more effectively.”
Ms Steen said there was a common and wrongly held belief asylum seekers were behaving illegally when they fled to countries such as Australia.
“However, under the 1954 UN Refugees Convention to which then Prime Minister RG Menzies was a signatory this is not the case,” she said.
“The convention gave people the right to cross borders if they were fleeing persecution – like the Jews during the war.
“The Von Trapp family made famous in the film The Sound of Music were seeking protection as they fled certain persecution and death during World War II.
“This right is also enshrined in our Migration Act where Australia undertook a legal obligation to protect people seeking asylum and to efficiently process their claims.”
Ms Steen was “well aware” of concerns terrorists may be among asylum seekers but said evidence was against this proposition.
“I recall a question being asked in parliament around 2004 of an ASIO representative about how many had been found with terrorist links,” she said.
“The answer was ‘none’.
“As far as I know in the last couple of years about a dozen of those fleeing Sri Lanka were found to have questionable connections to such organisations.
“Although what these links were was never divulged – ASIO isn’t required to release such information.”
Another way of putting the situation in-to perspective was to realise “about 0.4 of an asylum seeker arrives for every 1000 Australians”.
“In 2010, 132 boats arrived with 6502 people – the majority of these were Hazaras escaping from the Taliban in Afghanistan,” Ms Steen said.
Ms El-Higzi said “about a dozen volunteers were needed immediately” but that if another program was approved about 30 to 40 volunteers would be needed in the next couple of months.
“A big part of the work is with support with everyday English,” she said.
“This activity and others such as mentoring and craft activities would be carried out at the Pinkenba or Virginia centres.
“Activities such as baking and sewing could be held at the Romero Centre.”
Ms Manning said volunteers would be trained to improve knowledge around self-care in what could be a challenging situation as well as an understanding of Serco rules and regulations and the need for confidentiality.
“Romero Centre has also put in a submission for the Directed Persons Program expected to start in June,” she said.
“It’s a three-month pilot program where volunteers take approved asylum seekers on excursions in the region.
“If this is approved we will need as many as 40 more volunteers.
“Volunteers can provide a great means of support for these often traumatised people.
“It’s a simple thing to do – just to spend time with these people.
“But they are so happy just to see new faces coming in.
“It gives them new hope.”
