THE Immigration Department has made a scathing assessment of its own temporary processing facility on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, calling for it to be urgently replaced with a permanent site, as a second asylum-seeker vessel was detected off the mainland.
In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry established by Special Minister of State Gary Gray to determine what infrastructure upgrades are necessary on the reopened Pacific Solution site, the current facilities on Manus Island were heavily criticised.
"The temporary centre is cramped and recreation facilities are limited and in a poor state," the departmental submission reads.
"There is no reliable power supply, limited potable water to the facility and the buildings and tents have a very short life expectancy."
It was also slammed for being located in a low-lying swampy area that encourages mosquito breeding.
Immigration officials have raised concerns that despite pedestal fans being provided in tents, temperatures are soaring to 38C, triggering behavioural problems among the detainees.
They fear the conditions in the centre will "increase risk of self-harm (and) mental health problems" and have called on Labor to replace the temporary site with "urgency".
The highly critical description of the conditions on Manus came as a second asylum-seeker boat was detected about 28 nautical miles off the West Australian coastline, a week after 66 Sri Lankans sailed into Geraldton harbour on a donated fishing vessel.
Customs and Border Protection yesterday confirmed that a WA police boat helped to intercept the asylum-seeker vessel, which was carrying 72 passengers.
Several of the passengers were transferred to Broome for medical treatment, while the remainder were sent to Christmas Island for health and security checks.
The boat was detected by a Customs and Border Protection surveillance plane on Sunday, and boarded by authorities from HMAS Ararat about 28.5NM -- just over 50km -- northwest of Broome.
Acting opposition immigration spokesman Michael Keenan attacked Labor for delaying legislation to excise the mainland from the migration zone, saying this was the second boat in less than two weeks to make it close to the mainland.
"This is yet another embarrassment for the government in a week that has already seen an asylum boat make it all the way to Geraldton undetected and another vessel arrive in Flying Fish Cove on Christmas Island undetected," he said.
The majority of the 66 asylum-seekers aboard the Deutsche Bank fishing boat which sailed into Geraldton harbour last Tuesday continue to be interviewed at the Christmas Island detention centre.
In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry established by Special Minister of State Gary Gray to determine what infrastructure upgrades are necessary on the reopened Pacific Solution site, the current facilities on Manus Island were heavily criticised.
"The temporary centre is cramped and recreation facilities are limited and in a poor state," the departmental submission reads.
"There is no reliable power supply, limited potable water to the facility and the buildings and tents have a very short life expectancy."
It was also slammed for being located in a low-lying swampy area that encourages mosquito breeding.
Immigration officials have raised concerns that despite pedestal fans being provided in tents, temperatures are soaring to 38C, triggering behavioural problems among the detainees.
They fear the conditions in the centre will "increase risk of self-harm (and) mental health problems" and have called on Labor to replace the temporary site with "urgency".
The highly critical description of the conditions on Manus came as a second asylum-seeker boat was detected about 28 nautical miles off the West Australian coastline, a week after 66 Sri Lankans sailed into Geraldton harbour on a donated fishing vessel.
Customs and Border Protection yesterday confirmed that a WA police boat helped to intercept the asylum-seeker vessel, which was carrying 72 passengers.
Several of the passengers were transferred to Broome for medical treatment, while the remainder were sent to Christmas Island for health and security checks.
The boat was detected by a Customs and Border Protection surveillance plane on Sunday, and boarded by authorities from HMAS Ararat about 28.5NM -- just over 50km -- northwest of Broome.
Acting opposition immigration spokesman Michael Keenan attacked Labor for delaying legislation to excise the mainland from the migration zone, saying this was the second boat in less than two weeks to make it close to the mainland.
"This is yet another embarrassment for the government in a week that has already seen an asylum boat make it all the way to Geraldton undetected and another vessel arrive in Flying Fish Cove on Christmas Island undetected," he said.
The majority of the 66 asylum-seekers aboard the Deutsche Bank fishing boat which sailed into Geraldton harbour last Tuesday continue to be interviewed at the Christmas Island detention centre.
No comments:
Post a Comment