In June, the National Justice Project made submissions to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs imploring it to recommend that the Bill which would give Australian Border Force (ABF) officers the power to confiscate the phones of asylum seekers and refugees being held in immigration detention not be passed.

Last week the committee met and NOW is the time when we need to make our voices heard.

If this law is passed, it can be used to threaten, intimidate and harass asylum seekers and refugees. Use your voice - send an email to your local member or the below people and demand that our elected representatives do the right thing.

You can use the template and contact details below!

Contact details:

ALAN TUDGE MP

Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

EMAIL: alan.tudge.mp@aph.gov.au

PHONE: (02) 8574 5000

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/tudgeMP/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/AlanTudgeMP

SENATOR KRISTINA KENEALLY

Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate

EMAIL: senator.keneally@aph.gov.au  

PHONE: (02) 9891 9139

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorKeneally/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kkeneally

FIND YOUR LOCAL MEMBER

Use this link to find your local member and their contact details.

Template

"Dear Senator Keneally/Minister Tudge/<Name of Local Member>,

Re: MIGRATION AMENDMENT (PROHIBITING ITEMS IN IMMIGRATION DETENTION FACILITIES) BILL 2020 (“the Bill”)

I write to you regarding the above Bill to IMPLORE you to intervene and not allow it to pass into legislation in its current form.

I am extremely concerned about the following aspects of the Bill:

• It proposes to grant the Minister significant, unchecked powers against a group of people who have committed no crime and demonstrate no threat.
• It could allow for the removal of mobile phones from refugees and asylum seekers in detention. Mobile phones are critical to refugees and asylum seekers in terms of communication with family members and friends. Additionally, mobile phones ensure accountability for the actions of officers and contractors in immigration detention.
• Police officers in the community can be filmed when performing their duties, and we have seen numerous incidents of excessive use of force filmed on mobile phones which have led to investigation accountability of the officers involved. This investigation and accountability would not have been possible without the mobile phone footage.
• Mobile phones have also been essential safeguards for people living in immigration detention to ensure they have access to lawyers who can protect their legal rights. Whether it is access to essential medical care or protection from illegal deportation, having timely access to lawyers has been essential to preventing the Minister and his employees, contractors and agents from acting beyond power and causing irreparable damage to those who he detains in immigration detention facilities. The Minister cannot be permitted to remove possibly the only item that can offer people in immigration detention protection from him, without an assessment that the item is posing a risk in relation to a specific individual.
• Given the absence of any criminal conviction in relation to these people, it is not fair for a Minister to claim a general threat without any substantiation to justify this severe interference with individual and property rights.
• Freedom of political communication has been recognised by the High Court of Australia as essential to the proper functioning of our Parliamentary democracy. This is not only relevant to the individuals subjected to immigration detention: all Australians have an interest in ensuring our government operates legally and funds are spent appropriately. As noted in the Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law submission to this Committee’s inquiry into the 2017 Bill, this 2020 Bill could be open to constitutional challenge if passed in its current format.
• The Bill also proposes to permit strip searches of individuals living in immigration detention regardless of whether a suspicion has been formed that the individual is concealing a prohibited thing (proposed s251B). The power to remove an individual’s clothing without their consent and force them to expose their naked body is clearly an extreme one that must only be used in exceptional circumstances where there is a clear need. This will be a traumatising and humiliating experience for anyone subjected to it.
• Additionally, many of the individuals living in immigration detention facilities will have traumatic pasts, sometimes including sexual violence. For these people, being subjected to strip searches, potentially on a regular basis without any cause, will be re-traumatising and could cause ongoing mental injury.
• Those detained in immigration detention have been found guilty of no crime and have not been determined to pose any specific risk to the community. Rather they are detained by administrative order, awaiting the determination of a visa application or deportation. Conditions in immigration detention facilities should accordingly be less restrictive than those in prisons.
• These powers are significantly broader than those granted to police and prison officers, who have higher levels of training and accountability. They are also unnecessary, given the existing provisions in the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

I sincerely hope that for the above reasons, the Bill is not passed in its current format. I request that you, as my elected representative, communicate the content of this correspondence to your Parliamentary colleagues, particularly those in [the party of the recipient].

Thank you for your consideration.

Regards,

<your name>"

Let's get this Bill defeated!