Bruce Henry

In October the Australian Government Announced that it had purchased a former mine workers' accommodation facility at Port Headland in Northwestern Australia for use as a holding centre for asylum seekers in Australia. The announcement came at a time of great concern amongst immigration officials over the arrival in Australia of a number of boats of Cambodian asylum seekers. Such people are regarded by immigration officials as having cheated Australia's immigration system by failing to pass through 'normal' immigration channels.

Port Headland is located on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia. It is one of the hottest points in Australia, with average summer temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius. It is also one of the population centres of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, over 7000 kilometers west. There is little natural vegetation in the area, and the camp is in an area of open ground surrounded by barbed wire fences, similar to the detention centres of Hong Kong.

At the time of the announcement, the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia stated that it would not assist in processing refugee applications from these asylum seekers, due to the enormous costs associated with travel to and servicing of such an isolated place. They also stated that they had been unable to recruit a lawyer to work in their Port Headland office for the last three years.

The Government has succeeded in placing these asylum seekers where there are no lawyers, no courts, little media, and no support services such as psychological counselling for the detainees. It should also be pointed out that of the 25000 asylum seekers in Australia, the 300 who have been sent to Port Headland are almost entirely Cambodians and citizens of the People's Republic of China.

The Government seeks to justify its action by saying that as there are now 25,000 refugee applicants in Australia -
four years ago the number was about 600 steps must be taken to 'discourage' false applications. This approach owes much to the British Government's 'humane deterence plicies in Hong Kong.

The Government has panicked in its response to the growth in refugee applications, rather than considering the reasons for that growth - largely due to the Tianenamen Square incident and the Government's own action in abolishing the previous procedures for obtaining residence in Australia on humanitarian grounds. The Government also blames unscrupulous migration agents for encouraging clients to lodge fraudulent refugee applications - and so seeks to punish the victim rather than the offenders!

This action by the Government of Australia gives little hope for a humane approach to refugee issues in Australia in. the near future.