Inside Australia's Immigration Detention

Do you remember I wrote a few days ago that the barista of the coffee shop was going to be deported on Thursday?  It is Thursday today.  I gave him a farewell hug yesterday.  Then, I met him at the coffee shop today!!  It seems that the Property forgot to undertake the discharge process for him last night and when they realised it this morning, it was too late for the plane!!!  Another botched deportation.  No wonder the tax of this country is horrendously high... A botched deportation reminds me of the interesting story I read a few days ago.  It is about the Immigration's conduct which could potentially lead to mass botched deportation.  It is easy to understand even for a non-lawyer so you might want to read the article by yourself. http://migrationalliance.com.a u/immigration-daily-news/entry /2017-12-section-109-visa-canc ellations-without-proper-deleg ation-a-holiday-season-lump- of-coal-from-the-department. html Funny?  It is (!) although, unlike the author of

A short time ago, I suddenly realised that a guy who came here at about the same time as me after some jail time for multiple disqualified driving has not been around for more than a week.  He must have got his visa back.  It seems that lucky ones could get out in several weeks while the average ones take six to eight months.  Only the ones who are specifically targetted by the Immigration seem to stay here for more than a year.  I think the mandatory cancellation of a visa following a jail term is really a waste of time and money for everyone.  Well, he immensely enjoyed shopping at the Shop while here and couldn't believe that it was all paid by the Government, so it might not be a complete waste of time for some.  But in general, it is a waste of time and money for everyone. Today, my Partner received an email from his local MP who had made a representation to Peter Dutton upon the request from my Partner to ask the Minister to grant me a bridging visa.  His local MP receiv

This morning, I was reading a newspaper at the coffee shop.  It is my routine in the morning to have a brief chat with the barista who is actually one of the detainees and then read the Australian and SMH while sipping coffee.  The barista is a Kiwi, a former drug dealer, a very quiet guy and my favourite.   But this morning was different.  There was a disturbance!  The hairdresser!!  The Lebanese guy!!!  He is a Serco employee and comes here for hairdressing but it seems that now his duty is extended to supervise the coffee shop.  So he was there, doing nothing, totally bored.  OMG...  Of course, he wants to have a chat with me to kill the boring time.  OMG.  My only pastime of the day has gone... This morning's paper included an article about one of my friend refugee advocates.  When I was reading it, my phone rang.  It was him.  'Hey, I was just reading about you in today's paper.'  He explained to me what happened and sure enough, it was different from what

It's Day 40 today.  Time goes so quickly when you keep eating constantly...  I feel as if haven't done anything else these days.  So I decided to have a bit of a change today. I went to the hairdresser in the Community.  I had a hairdo by a 42 year old VERY FLIRTATIOUS Lebanese hairdresser who wants to see me in Brisbane.  Ha ha ha.  Since I called him a spring chicken, he kept asking me for my vintage.  I told him that I had repealed my birthday decades ago!   Then I went to the coffee shop next door to the hairdresser.  The barista of the coffee shop is, unlike the hairdresser, a detainee.  He is to be deported finally on Thursday.  He was supposed to be deported 'in a few weeks' for the last few months so we no longer believed he would really be going.  But it seems, at last, he may.  I am now worried whether my coffee vouchers that my Japanese friends left for me can be used up....  The coffee shop might be closed.... The barista has an assistant.  He wa

Today, I tentatively finalised my Outline of Submissions to be filed next week.  It looks OK.  So I sent it to my Partner's former next door neighbour in the Law School.  His next door neighbour was an Associate Professor when I was a PhD student and subsequently went to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.  He heard a lot of cases like mine there and now is back at the Bar.  So I asked him to accept my pro bono brief.  I hope he will pick up. While I was looking for someone who will stand up in court for me, I was being looked for by some protection visa applicant.  He came to this country on a student visa and after four years, applied for a protection visa.  He seems to have been a drug addict and lost the place to live as a result.  When the Tribunal sent a letter to his former address inviting him to attend a hearing, he was homeless.  He asked me whether there is any way to go back to the Tribunal after he missed the hearing date a long time ago.  Oh dear....  Should I h

It's day 38.  Eleven days to the travel to Brisbane.  Well, I have not been told when and how to get there even though I asked it to the Immigration soon after the previous hearing.  So I don't know whether I can really go back to Brisbane for the hearing.  But they are not going to ignore the order of the judge who is about to hear their case, I assume???  Mmmm, who knows what the Immigration does. Since last night, I don't have an appetite.  I think my old body can't take any more food.  I am fed too much too frequently.  I didn't eat three big meals a day outside.  Since arriving here, I haven't skipped even one meal.  No, I could not eat a lunch on the day of the first case management hearing.  But except that, I have not missed any.  It's impossible to skip a meal since there is not much else to do.  If I get fat, I will seek the additional damages for the cost of bigger clothes, extra health care, shorter lifespan and the associated loss of income

Oh, it's nice to have the latest browser!  This should be installed in all  the computers, not be limited to the one designated for my use.  It is  also wrong  that only I have a computer specifically reserved for me.  But I decided  not to complain about it, at least for the moment. I received an email written by a counsel who was considering whether  to accept my pro bono brief.  He was apparently interested in my case  since he seems to have done a database search to find the court date  by himself. In the end, he declined with the statement that he thinks  my case needs 'resources'.  (*Resources means money.)  As soon as  people learned that I am a Japanese, they believed that they can  extract money from me.  Sorry, mate.  I have no money. In the evening, I went to the Medical Centre to get anti-depressant  which I use as  anti-anxiety.  I only take it when I feel like it,  maybe once a week.  Today's nurse was an African looking guy.  He  tried to give me a ca

Woohoo!  My next door neighbour came back!!  She came back in the  evening yesterday.  Her suitcase went to her country of origin which she had left when she was a kid but she didn't go there with her suitcase.  She seems  to have a big fight at the airport in Sydney. According to her, she went there with seven guards.  They recommended her to have water,  coffee, one after the other.  She drank some of them and soon became  dizzy.  She thought she had been drugged.  But she shook it off and  fought against the seven guards who tried to drag  her into the  plane.  Another seven guards turned up.  But she fought off.   I  remember my Japanese friend told me that my next door neighbour had had a  big physical fight against my ex-roommate Ms Serial Thief  once and the  emergency response guards (all male) had tried to break the fight and had  chased her in the basket court in front of the compound building.  But  they could not catch her.  So she is an exceptionally strong woman 

Last night at 1.20am, I was woken up by a guard.  The Property was  calling me.  Thank you very much for responding to my request after  the mid-night, bastard.  I could ignore the guard but I took the  opportunity since I had tried to access my belongings held by the  Property for the last three weeks in vain.   I took bottles of shampoo  etc to the Property to store in my suitcase.  I also checked both of my  bags (one is the suitcase and the other is my briefcase) held in the  Property.  I wanted to check whether my jewellery (although not really  much, basically my wedding ring which I thought I would sell when needed) was there.  Of course, that's gone. Now I know why the ABF officers who raided my home asked me again and  again where the precious things were.  One of them specifically asked  'Where is jewellery?' several times.  That must be what she wanted.   The ABF does not seem to raid asylum seekers homes.  The Immigration  usually calls them to come to the off

My friend has gone.  She left coffee vouchers for me with her  left-over points (money to be used at the shop here).  It made me cry.   She's gone.  It sucks.  I have no friend again. Late last night, or early this morning, I got a pair of shoes.  I  requested shoes to participate in activities.  If it is not raining  tomorrow morning, I may join the charity walk which I missed last  week. It was a depressing day.  I made one affidavit and sent to the court  for filing.  I intend to prepare a few more documents in case I want  to hand them up to the court at the hearing but that's all what I  can  think of as a preparation for the hearing. When I went to see a JP to swear my affidavit, I saw another woman  whose visa was cancelled under s 501 as a result of her unlicensed  driving.  She applied for the revocation of the cancellation of her  visa.  That was denied.  So she has to appeal to the Federal Court.   Until she wins, she does not have a visa.  Of course, she doesn

Rainy day.  I have a garbage bag to wear so that I am not going to get  wet.  But I was given a raincoat in 2006 so my situation is worse than  2006. I put a request form in today stating: 'I need a court attire for my  Federal Court case against the Minister for Immigration on 21  December.  Dark suits and dark shoes are preferred.  However, any  business style is acceptable.'  I saw some detainee men walking in  suits from time to time so there must be something for court for men.   Then why don't they have something for women? My Japanese friend here went to the local court today as a witness for  the police.  She came back and asked me what happened in her court  case.  How could I know?  I didn't attend the court. According to her, she went to the court and waited in front of the  court room with another witness and a police officer.  The defendant  did not turn up as usual and just tendered a medical certificate.   Then another witness received a phone call.

I was searching a few legal databases this morning and accidentally  found the article entitled: 'Truth, Justice and the Australian Way: Plaintiff S157 of 2002 v  Commonwealth'. My immediate thought,,, 'My piggies!!!'.   I remembered a remark by a  B&B owner where I often stayed.  When she learned my guinea  pig's name, Justice, she said, 'Appropriate name.'  I thought Justice  was a pretty name but may not sound so pretty for native English speakers. Anyway, what was I searching in the database?  Two pieces of  legislation. One, the amendment to the defective Migration Regulation  1994 newly allowing a student who won in the tribunal to apply for  another student visa even after the original student visa expired  while the lazy tribunal was mucking about without making the decision.   Two, the amendment to the faulty Migration Act 1958 to eventually  abolish the detention costs debts.  The former came into force in  2004, the latter 2009.  Too lat

It's day 31 today but in my mind, it's day 1 of the preparation to go  back home. I have decided to shift some of my stuff from my room's small lockable  drawer to my suitcase in the Property if possible.  I am hoarding not  only bottles of shampoo but also tubes of paw paw ointment, packs of  peanuts butter and honey etc.  I put a request form in to shift my  stuff but I don't know whether I am allowed to do so. When I leave for Brissie, I have to take my mobile, computer and  chargers for them with me by all means.  But I am not sure whether it  is possible.  If not, there will be a big fuss after I am released in  Brisbane. (Yes, for the moment, I have decided to believe I will be  released.)  Even if I can take these essentials with me, still there  will be a lot of left-over items. Last time, it took about a month and a rather large number of people's  help to get my left-over belongings back from Villawood.  This time,  it will be a bigger mess since I h

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------------------------- Breaking: Secured the judgment date on 22 December in Brisbane. ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------------------------- There was a directions hearing this morning.  These days, it is called  the case management hearing.  It was listed at 10:30am in Queensland.   The notice came to me simply indicated that 10:30am.  I thought, hummm,  the case manager of the Federal Court Registry (who is a junior lawyer who has no knowledge of the  legal practice!) who was responsible for my case did not seem to know  that there was a time difference between QLD and NSW.  Sure enough,  the guards here chased me at 10:15am here in Villawood to send me to a  non-existent hearing at that time. I ignored the case manager and emailed directly to the Registrar  informing what happened.  I also left the message as to what I would  tell the court, just in case I wouldn't be

My judge was found alive today.  The problem was a registry staff.  A junior  lawyer who did not understand the legal practice failed to have  forwarded my email to the judge's chambers which I sent on Tuesday.   That was an implicit reminder of a pro bono order his Honour had  forgotten to make.  As soon as my email was forwarded to the chambers,  a pro bono order was made.  Too late.  The hearing is tomorrow. There was another disappointment today.  As a result of the court  order, the Registrar telephoned one of the public interest clearing  houses which I applied for pro bono assistance 27 days ago.  The court  order was to refer my case to the Queensland Bar, but the Qld Bar  outsourced the Bar's pro bono scheme to that public interest clearing house.   I didn't know it.  So my pro bono search went back to squarer  one.  I am tired. I spent most of the time in bed in my room today.  It is partially  because I was tired but partially because I needed to stay my room

Today, I tried Milo, as far as I remember, for the first time in my life.  Milo was sold a lot in Japan, too.  But my Mum never bought it  for me so it was not in my drink menu.  When I lived in a college at a uni in Queensland , I saw many students stirring Milo in a  cup every morning but I have never tried.  But yesterday, a shop clerk  told me that I have 60 cents or so left so that I should buy a  Cadbury's chocolate frog, what is the name??,,, or a sachet of Milo to  use up this week's 35 dollars.  So I decided to try Milo.  Well, it's  an experience for the first and probably the last in my life. I tried another experience today.  Joining a so-called 'activity'.   There is a charity walk twice a week here.  It is interesting because  if a detainee joins the charity walk, the donation  goes to Can-teen, a  charity to support teenage cancer sufferers.  But the detainee also  gets two dollars to spend at the Shop here.  Two dollars are the  standard payment fo

Listen!  Finally, finally, my roommate has gone!!!  Thank goodness.   My torturous days are over (until the next problem comes though...).   I learned today that Ms Serial Thief was regularly beaten up by others for her  stealing and infuriating comments against the persons from whom she  stole.  The scuffle I partially witnessed was really nothing compared  to the other times when she was literary beaten up!!  Although some guard told me that people here steal from each other, it does not seem to be true.  The problems were caused repeatedly by some specific persons and guards chucked one of them into my room.  I made a lot of  complaints but I do not think that is the reason she was shifted to  somewhere else.  So something must have happened although I do not  know what. Apart from that, I received an email from the Australian Human Rights  Commission.  The investigator who looked into my racial discrimination  complaint informed me that the Immigration had advised her that the