ChilOut
Encyclopedia
ChilOut is a group opposed to the mandatory imprisonment of children under 18 in immigration detention
centres in Australia
. The group was formed in 2001, in the context of the policies of the Howard government
regarding asylum seekers in Australia.
The group was established after a program on ABC Television
showed an Iranian child called Shayan Badraie in immigration detention suffering post traumatic stress disorder.http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2002/s551139.htm
A refugee advocate describes her response when she first saw the boy: "At first I believed he was a fake boy; a child made to look like a boy, a fundraiser for famine in Africa." (Acting from the Heart, Sarah Mares and Louise Newman (eds), p 6).
(The Federal Government has since conceded that the child has been psychologically damaged while in mandatory detention.) According to his lawyers: "The settlement is an acceptance of responsibility for the psychiatric injuries suffered by Shayan as a result of the shocking circumstances in which he was detained."http://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/about/pro_bono.asp
ChilOut's aim was to change the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), to release all children and their families from mandatory and indefinite immigration detention
. It did this mainly by petitioning media and politicians, through a growing community base of volunteers.
In 2005 ChilOut won the Community (Organisation) Award at the 2005 Human Rights Awards.
At its zenith it had over 4000 members. Most children in immigration detention
in Australia have been released (as at July 2005). At that time the Migration Act 1968 (Cth) was amended to effectively say that children should only be detained as a last resort.http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s4aa.html
Immigration detention
Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in detention until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to...
centres in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The group was formed in 2001, in the context of the policies of the Howard government
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
regarding asylum seekers in Australia.
The group was established after a program on ABC Television
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
showed an Iranian child called Shayan Badraie in immigration detention suffering post traumatic stress disorder.http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2002/s551139.htm
A refugee advocate describes her response when she first saw the boy: "At first I believed he was a fake boy; a child made to look like a boy, a fundraiser for famine in Africa." (Acting from the Heart, Sarah Mares and Louise Newman (eds), p 6).
(The Federal Government has since conceded that the child has been psychologically damaged while in mandatory detention.) According to his lawyers: "The settlement is an acceptance of responsibility for the psychiatric injuries suffered by Shayan as a result of the shocking circumstances in which he was detained."http://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/about/pro_bono.asp
ChilOut's aim was to change the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), to release all children and their families from mandatory and indefinite immigration detention
Immigration detention
Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in detention until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to...
. It did this mainly by petitioning media and politicians, through a growing community base of volunteers.
In 2005 ChilOut won the Community (Organisation) Award at the 2005 Human Rights Awards.
At its zenith it had over 4000 members. Most children in immigration detention
Immigration detention
Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in detention until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to...
in Australia have been released (as at July 2005). At that time the Migration Act 1968 (Cth) was amended to effectively say that children should only be detained as a last resort.http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s4aa.html
See also
- Human rightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
- HREOC
- Immigration detentionImmigration detentionImmigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in detention until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to...
- Mandatory detention
- Mandatory detention in AustraliaMandatory detention in AustraliaMandatory detention in Australia concerns the Australian federal government's policy and system of mandatory immigration detention active from 1992 to date, pursuant to which all persons entering the country without a valid visa are compulsorily detained and sometimes subject to deportation.In the...
- Convention on the Rights of the ChildConvention on the Rights of the ChildThe United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
- Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...