YOUNG people had their say at the final public hearing of the national inquiry into children in immigration detention centres in Brisbane last Monday.
Four young people from Amnesty International’s Queensland Schools Network presented their arguments to Human Rights Commissioner Sev Ozdowski at State Parliament House.
Meg Foley, Rory Killen, Matt Clifford and Becky Ashby presented their case and were among the few young people consulted on the issue.
The four were asked for their submissions to the inquiry after helping to compile a report for the United Nations Youth Association (UNYA) earlier this year.
The inquiry is being conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and is the second inquiry to be run this year on children in detention.
After this last public hearing, a submission will be made by Mr Ozdowski to the Federal Government and it will be published early next year.
Of particular concern to these students was the issue of education.
‘(The children’s) education is being suppressed and even if they do get a permanent protection visa, they aren’t given any aid and are not promoting skills and talents that could enrich Australian society,’ said Matt Clifford from Marist College, Ashgrove.
The four students put forward a proposal outlining how refugees should be treated.
‘We think detention centres should be abolished,’ said Meg Foley from Siena College, Sippy Downs.
‘Refugees should be given trauma and torture counselling and English lessons should also be available to them.
‘We propose a six month period for medical and security checks, and after that, these refugees should be issued bridging visas, allowing them medical, education and residential support.
‘The bridging visas should last a maximum of six months and they should then be eligible for a permanent protection visa.’
They called for the scrapping of Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) for all refugees, not just children.
Meg said she has been in contact with a 22 year-old boy called Abdul from the Port Hedland detention centre.
‘I write to Abdul and speak to him on the telephone,’ she said.
‘He has been in Port Hedland the longest. Three and a half years.’
Matt said refugees weren’t being treated as humans.
‘Refugees deserve basic human rights but they have no rights in detention centres,’ he said.
‘They can be raped and abused and nothing is done about it.’
Meg added there should be no class system allocated to refugees.
‘We want to make the point that children are innocent,’ she said.
