The Australian newspaper’s ongoing attacks against the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) have no basis in fact, RAC spokesperson Ian Rintoul said today.
In four issues since last Friday, the paper has been waging a campaign to discredit the claims that women in the family camp attempted suicide on Christmas Island last week.
“In its concerted attempt to downplay the seriousness of the situation on Christmas Island, The Australian has seriously misrepresented my comments about self-harm in the family camp,” Rintoul said.
‘Self-harm’ itself is a loaded term, used as a euphemism for ‘attempted suicide’ by Serco and the government in their attempt to sanitise the brutality of the detention system they run.
RAC stands by its original statement on July 8 that “up to ten mothers in the family camp attempted suicide” in 48 hours.
“Whether any particular act is to be described as attempted suicide ultimately rests on the intention of the victim. Detainees from the family camp told me that the women had attempted suicide and there is no doubt that the attempted hangings, jumping from containers and the ingestion of toxic liquids are accurately described as suicide attempts,” said Rintoul.
“It is well known that in its public statements the government regularly downplays the gravity of suicide and self-harm incidents among the detainees and its responsibility for the deteriorating mental health of those they keep in detention,” Rintoul continued.
“This is exactly what they and The Australian have done regarding the instances of the family camp on Christmas Island. According to the latest information, no less than 14 asylum seekers are officially on ‘suicide watch’ in the family camp alone.
“The government has contempt for the welfare of asylum seekers who are in their care. Despite medical advice, the government intends to move a Pakistani Shia asylum seeker from hospital to the MITA detention centre regardless of his previous attempts to suicide in that detention centre.”
The Australian has also suggested that I, along with other unspecified refugee advocates, ‘coach’ asylum seekers to self-harm for political purposes.
This allegation has not the slightest basis in fact.
The ‘coaching’ allegation, made by former Immigration official Greg Lake, has not been supported by a shred of evidence, even under challenge.
“Lake’s claims have only served to deflect attention from the well-established fact that it is detention unnecessarily imposed by the government that has such serious detrimental effects on the mental health of asylum seekers, and is the cause of self harm and attempted suicide in detention centres,” Rintoul said.
“Having made serious allegations against advocates he refuses to name, Lake has been unable to produce one iota of back-up when challenged on his claims’ accuracy.”
“His story has also been inconsistent,” Rintoul said. “Lake initially claimed that the basis for his allegations was that the facts were not only “obvious”, but also confirmed in interviews with the detainees themselves. He now says that the information comes from monitored communications which cannot be revealed for legal reasons but he has failed to provide any level of detail at all.”
The Refugee Action Coalition stands by all its previous claims unreservedly. Lake and The Australian have only discredited themselves by publishing their baseless allegations.
For more information contact Ian Rintoul mob 0417 275 713
