In the light of the revelations of drug-running in Christmas Island, refugee advocates have called for the sacking of Peter Dutton, an end to mandatory detention and to holding 501’s, so-called criminal deportees, in immigration detention.
“The Christmas Island Serco manager and guard filmed supplying drugs are being made scapegoats for a detention regime that is out-of-control. Mixing 501’s and asylum seekers has always been a recipe for disaster. Neither groups of people should be in detention,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
“Minister Dutton is trying to sweep the issue under the carpet. Drugs are rife in detention. There needs to be a full inquiry into Australia’s detention regime. It is a breeding ground for despair. Detention is the crime, drugs are just an inevitable symptom.
“Peter Dutton was Immigration Minister when there were drug raids at the Villawood detention centre in 2015. But little has changed since then. There are surveillance cameras all over the detention centres that will have recorded numerous instances of guards pushing drugs. The suggestion that it is one percent of officers responsible for the drug trade inside detention is not credible. How do the drugs get into Christmas Island?
“Asylum seekers have become addicted inside detention. Dutton is responsible for that. IHMS run detox programs inside the detention centres. The factories of mental illness also create the victims that are vulnerable to drug use.
“The Minister has spent tens of thousands of dollars on a court case trying to ban mobile phones from the detention centres to cut asylum seekers off from families and community support. This small glimpse into the reality of Christmas Island shows that banning phones would just drive a market in phones underground. All the Minister’s arguments about security inside the detention centres have come back to bite him.
“Peter Dutton presides over a system of abuse, and a culture of lies and cover-up. He should be sacked, not elevated to a super Ministry of security.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
Sydney vigil to call for the evacuation of Nauru and Manus Island. Four Years Too Many, Bring Them Here:
19 July 2017 6:00 pm Hyde Park North, NSW, 2000Australia. Speakers include: Sarah Dale from RACS and Ming Yu from Amnesty International, refuge speaker and messages from Manus Island.
