Inside Australia's Immigration Detention

I met the flirtatious hairdresser this morning!  He has not been sacked after all.  The source of the false information was one of my good friends.  His nickname is 'Professor' because he is very arrogant but often what he says is completely wrong.  Ha ha ha.  Real professors will be most annoyed if they noticed how they are perceived by the general public.   Anyway, it's good to have the hairdresser back since if my lazy judge takes long to write up a judgment, I will have my hair trimmed next month again. Today, I went to the knitting class again to learn the latest topics in the detention centre.  Girls told me that a new policy on food was introduced today and now a visitor was allowed to bring food in for detainees.  After the knitting class, I asked about the new food policy to a detainee who collected everyone's signature to put the ABF on notice that we would institute a class action if the current food ban policy was not changed...

For the last two weeks, I was told by a few people that there will be a new policy on visitors.  First thing I heard was that there will be a criminal history check when applying for a visit.  Then, I was told that 100 point IDs will be required.  Then, a visitor has to apply for a visit at least five days prior to the planned visit.  Yesterday, someone told me that the success or otherwise of an application for a visit will only be told when a visitor arrives at the planned visit.  I have not had any confirmation of all these information.  So I don't know whether it is true.  But the detainees here are in a panic.   A refugee girl is worried whether her husband has 100 points of IDs.  An interstate girl is worried if her husband flies from interstate and is refused entry into the centre.  My friends here are worried whether their criminal records prevent them from keeping their promise with each other to visit each othe...

Today, I went to the Visit to see a Sister of a church.  I thought that the centre had introduced a new policy on 2 January to undertake a pat search of a detainee when entering into and coming out of the Visits.   At least, when I went to see visitors last week, the reception was in chaos as a result.  Today, there was no search.  No havoc.  Did they abolish the new policy in less than ten days?  Well, if so, it's good since the search was plainly meaningless but creating huge havoc and chaos.  But couldn't they think what is going to happen if they introduce such a policy BEFORE actually introducing it??? Anyway, when I was talking with the sister, I saw a guard with whom I often had a chat passing by.  I said to him, 'Hi!' and he came to join us.  I told him about my current battle against the Acting Health Services Manager who is a registered nurse.  She refused to book an optometrist for me despite that she was directed to...

I heard that someone escaped from MITA (Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation) a few days ago.  As of today, Villawood started a pat search when a detainee goes to and comes back from the Visits. I guess the escape from MITA involved a visitor and the ABF went crazy.  Oh dear.  Villawood has always been worse than prison but it really is even now.  What's the point of searching a detainee when going from the compound to see a visitor?  There is nothing in the compound because the centre does not allow anything to get into the compound.  Can anybody tell the ABF to use their brain?  Oh, they don't have one?  That's a bit of a problem. Today, someone from my compound got a visa.  It is the first day of the year but someone in the Immigration started working and decided to grant a visa.  That's a good start, I think.

A busy week started.  The last few days in Villawood.  I still don't know when to travel but I suspect it is 20th.  So I have to wind up everything tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.  It seems that the Immigration does not tell me the date and the time of travel in advance.  However, according to a guard who does escort, since I will go interstate, the custody has to be transferred from Serco NSW to Serco QLD which means that I should be able to take all my belongings with me.  I hope that is correct. Today, I organised my court papers.  I also printed out the last documents that I might hand up to the judge.  Other than those bits and pieces, I read cases and had fun.  The Immigration never stop surprising the court (and the readers of the judgments like me).  They are astoundingly talented! Tomorrow, I will introduce my quiet kind Tamil friend here to my caring friend in Sydney when she visits me.  The day after tomorro...

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 expla...

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 lifesp...

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 al...