Australian refugee laws and juvenile asylum seekers Dr. Chandrika Subramaniyan BA. MA. MPhil. PhD. LLB. LLM. Adv Dips in Management, Training and Legal Prac.MAICD Solicitor and Barrister Supreme court of NSW and High court Mediator and Arbitrator Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre Panellist Indian Council of Arbitration Presented at Dr AMBHEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY CHENNAI National Seminar on Child Rights October 2014
My paper submitted for Dr Ambhedkar Law University, Chennai , National Seminar of Child Rights , in October 2014
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Australian refugee laws
and juvenile asylum seekers
Dr. Chandrika Subramaniyan BA. MA. MPhil. PhD. LLB. LLM.
Adv Dips in Management, Training and Legal Prac.MAICD
Solicitor and Barrister Supreme court of NSW and High court Mediator and
Arbitrator Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre
Panellist Indian Council of Arbitration
Presented at
Dr AMBHEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY CHENNAI
National Seminar on Child Rights
October 2014
UNHCR
estimates :
half of the 50 million displaced
persons in the world are children
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission report
• children who in mandatory detention
• indefinite periods
• no real opportunity to argue their
case
Dr. Sev Ozdowski OAM Human Rights Commissioner
report
• children detained for long periods - high risk of suffering mental illness
• 14% - unaccompanied children
• Australian government’s refusal : “cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of those children in detention”
• Health
• well-being and
• development of children
Australian Human Rights Commission
inquiry on children detention
2014
Children
:
775 children are held in locked immigration detention facilities in Australia and 208 children are held in Nauru
304 children were detained on Christmas : subject to offshore transfer to Nauru
54 unaccompanied children are held in immigration detention facilities in Australia.
128 babies were born in immigration detention f in Australia (1 January 2013 and 31 March 2014)
Time in detention
321 children in detention in Australia for more
than 6 months.
38 children detention in Australia for more
than one year.
The average length of time that a child spent
in an detention in Australia - 231 days.
128 reported actual self-harm incidents children in closed immigration
detention in Australia
Neglect of obligation to CRC
518 children of compulsory school) in detention in Australia.
338 children attended an external school at 31 March 2014.
School education on Christmas Island is limited(2 weeks per child.
The average length of time detained on Christmas Island is 221.5 days. There were 160 school aged children.
Australia’s neglect to its obligation to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Current Refugee determination process
minimal infrastructure / limited or no
community services or standardised
health services
No distinction between children and
adults
developing severe psychological
disorders, ,depression and anxiety,
leading to self-harm and suicide
Laws passed : detention of children
Migration Amendment (Detention Arrangements) Act
2005, established: that children should only be detained as the last option
Babies born in detention centre
Before Ferouz, issued ,Queensland birth
certificate, mother asylum seeker
thereafter considered as a UMA
Adelaide Hills, 11 babies were sent to
Christmas Island on offshore detention
centre at 3 a.m disregarding their physical
conditions.
the baby is 28 days old, they can be sent
to an offshore facility.
Detention of children in Nauru
Understanding (MOU) with the
Republic of Nauru, for a Regional
Processing Centre (RPC)
177 asylum seeker children who have
been detained in Nauru which include
20-50 unaccompanied minors.
Extraterritorial Application process
&
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Article 2(1) of the CRC
all children irrespective of their status.
Detention of children and its impact
violation of Article 3(1) of the CRC :
“In all actions concerning children, whether
undertaken by public or private social
welfare institutions, courts of law,
administrative authorities or legislative
bodies, the best interests of the child shall be
a primary consideration.”
International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR)
Detention that is not justified and is not
particular to the individual
circumstances of a detainee will
constitute arbitrary detention:Article 9
CRC
arbitrary under Article 37 (b) of the CRC which provides: “No child
shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily,”
violation of Article 20(1)
Article 37 (a)
“No child shall be subjected
to torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Article 22(1) _ (CRC)
appropriate measures to ensure
that asylum-seeking children
enjoy their rights under the CRC
and the Refugee Convention : Convention on the Rights of the Child