The government needs our bodies for political power, while the detention industry needs us to fuel its money-making torture machine. But what has Australia truly gained?
Eight years have passed since the Australian government mandated offshore detention for all asylum seekers who arrive by boat, which led to the banishing of more than 3,000 refugees to Nauru as well as Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
Since then, we have heard many tragic stories about the stranded refugees – stories of death, violence, child detention, family separation and countless violations of human rights.
Related: For the refugees Australia imprisons, music is liberation, life and defiance | Behrouz Boochani
The offshore detention policy is a combination of hostage-taking, deception, secrecy, corruption, populist propaganda and systematic torture
Related: Three countries, eight years: one refugee’s nightmare odyssey through Australia’s detention system
Continue reading…This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.