Self-harm among detainees a major concern, says Australian Human Rights Commission

Self-harm and suicides are major concerns in Australian immigration detention centers, the nation' s Human Rights Commission said on Thursday.

The apparent suicides of three men at Villawood Immigration Detention Center in 2010 and high rates of self-harm should sound urgent alarm bells about the impacts of Australia's immigration detention system, the Commission said.

Releasing the Commission's report of its visit to the detention facilities at Villawood, Commission President Catherine Branson said on Thursday that the uncertainty caused by indefinite detention and delays in refugee processing and security assessments were triggering serious mental health issues among the detainees.

During the visit to Sydney's Villawood Detention Center, the Commission found detainees scarred from self-harming while others talk of days of depression and frequent thoughts of suicide.

"What we saw at Villawood was the result of the system of mandatory and indefinite detention, where people can see no end in sight because there is no set time limit on the period a person can be held in detention," Branson said.

"Sixty percent of those in detention when we visited Villawood had been detained for longer than six months, and forty five percent had been detained for more than a year," she said.

The Commission said it was "deeply concerned" about the detrimental impacts of prolonged and indefinite detention on people's mental health.

As of May 6 there were 6715 people in immigration detention across Australia and more than half of those people had been in detention for longer than six months, the Commission said.

"There have been six deaths in immigration detention facilities over the last nine months, including the apparent suicides of three men in three months at the Villawood detention center," Branson said.

Branson said Australia's system of mandatory and indefinite immigration detention was a key concern raised by the international community during the recent United Nations' Universal Periodic Review of Australia's human rights record.

"I urge the Government to make greater use of community-based alternatives that are cheaper, more effective and more humane, such as the use of bridging visas or Community Detention," Branson said.

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