21 April 2011 in Media
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen must today rule out expanding the capacity of the Inverbrackie detention facility following the disturbances at the Villawood detention centre overnight.
After announcing the Inverbrackie facility in October last year, Minister Bowen made a commitment not to expand its capacity beyond 400.
But since then, the need to accommodate asylum seekers has grown even further, and with these latest developments at Villawood, the pressure on the detention network is increasing.
More boats are arriving every week and the capacity to accommodate asylum seekers is growing day by day. Minister Bowen made a commitment not to expand the Inverbrackie facility. He must not break this promise.
Minister Bowen must also rule out moving any asylum seeker that has been involved in disturbances at other detention facilities to Inverbrackie.
When the Inverbrackie facility was announced, Minister Bowen said only families with low risk security assessments would be accommodated, and this must not change.
In light of reports that NSW Police were hampered in acting against the disturbances at the Villawood centre last night due to jurisdictional limits, Minister Bowen should also ensure that SA State Police have the power to adequately respond to any disturbance at the Inverbrackie facility.
Unfortunately there have already been security breaches at the Inverbrackie facility, highlighting the urgent need for community reassurance.
Minister Bowen said the Inverbrackie detention facility was established to accommodate 400 low risk asylum seekers. Any manoeuvring out of these parameters would be a further breach of his commitments to this community.