Detention – A Bitter Lesson for Overseas Students in Australia
Between 2000 – 2005, as per the Department of Immigration, 2003 students were detained for breaching visa conditions. The current figure is about 300 students. Most of them are from South Asian countries. Most of them are detained among other reasons for overstaying their visa period or working over the permitted 20 a week. Is there more to this statistics than we are aware off? Student Detainee Advocate – Michealla Rost explains and starts with the condition of the detention centres. Now….. Detention is a sensitive subject in Australia. Recently the Rudd Government. announced certain legislation changes to handle detention cases. Especially for those seeking asylum status. As per this announcement if a person is not a threat or risk to society then they were not to be held in detention. These changes sound very promising and humane. Will these changes impact detained students? Human Rights activist from Western Australia, Jack Smith offers some insight about these legislative changes