Australia holding people in immigration detention for average of 689 days, says Human Rights Watch

At least 117 people have been detained for more than five years

Australian authorities are holding people in immigration detention for an average of 689 days, according to the Human Rights Watch, which slammed the country’s “harsh and unlawful policy of indefinite and arbitrary” detention of refugees and asylum seekers.

Home affairs department figures suggest that currently about 1,459 people are being held at immigration facilities in Australia, including more than 70 refugees and asylum seekers transferred from Nauru and Manus Island.

Under Australian law, anyone arriving in the country by boat to seek asylum must be detained with no cap on the period of detention. As a result, the average period for which a person is held at Australian immigration detention is up to 689 days, according to a September 2021 report by the department of home affairs.

Australia has detained 117 people for over five years, and about eight people have been held in detention for more than ten years, the report said.

Describing the detention period as the “highest ever recorded”, Human Rights Watch reported that countries like the United States and Canada detained a person for an average of 55 and 14 days, respectively.

The rights group also called on the Australian government to end the policy and advised them to adopt alternatives as it is being used by successive governments as “a form of deterrence”.

“These statistics show how completely alone Australia is among like-minded countries, in terms of the indefinite detention of asylum seekers and refugees for years on end,” researcher Sophie McNeill told BBC News. “Under international law, immigration detention should not be used as punishment, but rather should be an exceptional measure of last resort to carry out a legitimate aim.”

The country’s immigration policies came under a global spotlight last month for detaining tennis player Novak Djokovic. Djokovic spent five days at a detention hotel in Melbourne in January after his visa to play in the Australian Open was revoked due to his vaccination status.

Djokovic’s family had likened his treatment by authorities to that of a “prisoner” in “captivity”. His mother Dijana had said at the time: “They are keeping him as a prisoner, that’s not human and it’s not fair.”

The Park Hotel in Melbourne is also known as an Alternative to Detention, and has been used as such since December 2020. No one is allowed in or out of the hotel aside from staff. Windows must remain closed. Despite describing itself as “luxurious” and “4.5 stars” on its website, the hotel has been the subject of heavy criticism with reports of maggot-riddled food, Covid outbreaks and fires in recent months.

Protestors have frequently gathered outside in a bid to force authorities to release refugees and asylum seekers from the hotel.

Contrasting Djokovic’s detention to that of other immigrants, the rights group said Australia continued to indefinitely hold at least 32 refugees and asylum seekers at the same facility. It added that the detainees’ freedom of movement was “heavily restricted” and they had “limited access to sunlight, space to exercise and fresh air”.

Among those detained at the hotel facility is Mehdi Ali, a 24-year-old refugee from Iran, who fled his country at the age of 15 to escape religious persecution. Having been held in the Park Hotel in Melbourne for the past two years, Ali described the situation as a “real nightmare”.

He told the Human Rights Watch that those in the building desperately needed freedom. “Some of them think about committing suicide every night before they go to sleep,” he added.