Press releases
COVID crisis in Park hotel – six in isolation, shocking delays put more at risk
Last night, Sunday 17 October, following the confirmation of three positive Covid cases, all refugees in the Park hotel were confined to their rooms. Last night, after waiting days since signs of Covid emerged among refugees in the Park hotel last week, all refugees who were not already quarantined (around forty people) were finally tested […]
Melbourne detention on COVID alert
IHMS staff tested all people detained in Bass 2 compound for Covid Friday night, just hours after Border Force declared that they were considered to be close contacts of a Serco officer who has tested positive for the virus. Some of those detained, like Ivan who was diagnosed with diabetes while in detention, who are […]
Melbourne detention centre locked down after another SERCO officer tests positive for COVID
The whole of Bass 2 compound of Melbourne detention centre (MITA) has been lockdown this afternoon, Friday 8 October. People detained in Bass 2 were told they were all deemed to be close contacts of a Serco officer (understood to be an activities officer) who has tested positive for Covid, and have been told that […]
Government disgracefully deserts PNG refugees; it’s time to end offshore detention, free the Medevac refugees
The announcement that Australia is moving to dump the refugees in PNG cannot cover up its on-going responsibility for the refugees and asylum seekers they unlawfully sent there in 2013. (See PNG Immigration’s statement here.) In 2016, the PNG Supreme Court found that the agreement between PNG and Australia to transfer asylum seekers from Australia […]
Another SERCO workers in Melbourne detention centre is COVID positive
People detained across all compounds of Melbourne’s Broadmeadows detention centre, MITA, were informed yesterday (Friday 1 October) that a Serco employee had tested positive for Covid. But in defiance of normal protocols, there was no information about how long the person had been working while infectious, where they had worked, nor was anyone informed whether […]
Rooftop protest at Yongah Hill detention centre
A group of at least 15 immigration detainees have begun a protest on the roof of Kingfisher Compound in Yongah Hill detention. The group is protesting against being removed from Yongah Hill to Christmas Island. There are reports that prior to the rooftop protest, the Serco ERT had assaulted detainees who were protesting inside Kingfisher […]
Still no COVID testing in MITA after guards test positive
Refugee advocates have accused Covid commander Jeroen Weimar, and the Australian Border Force, of being less than forthcoming with the truth about Covid in MITA, Melbourne’s immigration detention centre. Commander Jeroen Weimar’s quoted public statements raise serious questions about the management of Covid risk in MITA. Commander Weimar was quoted on 5 September, saying, “We […]
Two MITA detention security guards test COVID positive
Two MMS security guards at Melbourne’s Broadmeadows detention centre (MITA), have tested positive for Covid. Refugees and immigration detainees in two compounds have been exposed to the infected guards. Covid vaccination at MITA only started last Wednesday, so there are many with no vaccination at all. The guards’ tests returned positive this morning, but it […]
Darwin refugee family fights for freedom
Support is growing for the last remaining refugee family in Darwin’s Mercure Hotel prison to be released from detention. The Maghames family (parents Malakeh and Yaghob, and their adult children Hajar and Abbas) have been sleeping in the yard of their compound at the back of the hotel in protest at being left behind after […]
Three refugees in hospital after fourteen days on hunger strike
Concerns are growing for the welfare of 10 Medevac refugees in the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) who have been on hunger strike protest since 15 July, demanding their immediate release from detention. Three of the hunger strikers are now in the Northern hospital. Two were hospitalised on 22 July; a third refugee was taken […]
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