Inside Australia's Immigration Detention

Yesterday, I telephoned the Registry of the Federal Court to ask about something other than the judgment in my migration case and accidentally discovered that the Associate to my judge had sent an email to the Registry directing it to list my migration case for the judgment on Friday.  Woohoo!  I was told that I would receive a notice of listing in the afternoon.  Bravo! Guess what.  The notice did not arrive yesterday.  I don't know whose fault is that.  But my case does not seem to follow the plan in each and every step. Eventually this afternoon, actually after 5pm (!), I received a notice of listing with the orders of the court made in chambers yesterday.  His Honour is requiring the Minister to produce me to the court for the judgment.  Unusual.   Strictly saying, because I did not put the costs argument in my submissions, I should be in court for the costs argument.  But since I am not represented, there...

Yesterday was a disaster.   After I sent you my email, put my medical request form and complaint forms in and whinged to a manager who was unluckily wandering around, I went back to bed.  After a while, a guard came to get my signature.  It was another issue which I may tell you some day.  Anyway, the guard noticed that my face was swollen!  I thought that's bad.  I didn't want half of my face paralysed.  So I went to the guards' station.  One of the guards jumped up when she saw my face (which I did not think that bad...) and persuaded a nurse to see me, thank goodness.  I went to see a nurse in the Medical Centre.  At first glance, she told me that she could tell my face swollen.  She gave me Neurofene and paracetamol and put a request for a dentist in.  She said that it was not her who decided an appointment and detainees were waiting for a dentist for years.  I thought that might be the case.  ...

Good morning.  I normally write an email to you in the evening.  But today, I am sending you this early edition because I am going back to bed.  I am falling apart.  I found bleeding from the inside of my right ear and have a swollen jaw caused by the worn out filling of one of my left side teeth.  My crankiness must have come from the physical ailment.  I have to add these items to the list of my battlegrounds against IHMS (the health service provider). Yesterday, I received a few letters from IHMS in relation to my long-standing war on glasses.  IHMS and I have been fighting since November last year.  In short, I want new glasses and theyr did not want to give them to me.   The first round of the fight was concerned with an appointment to be seen by the optometrist who visits Villawood only once a month.  I won the first round last month.  But then, IHMS informed me that it would take 6 to 8 weeks for the delivery of...

As you must have noticed, I was really cranky yesterday.  The culmination was at night when a guard came to tell me that she had put a new girl in my room.  Of course, I said 'No'.   The guard asked me whether I wanted to speak to a manager.  I thought I would get the one whom I always speak to first thing in the morning next day rather than speaking to an unfamiliar one at night.  But I changed my mind when I was filling in a complaint form.  So I grabbed the manager of the day.  I told him that I was unhappy and gave him an unhappy stare.  He was mumbling one thing or another but soon agreed to do something in the morning.  Since I am not unreasonable (even though I may not be reasonable), I agreed to put up with a roommate for a night.  But when I came back to my room, the roommate came with her friends and collected her belongings and left.  I could not understand why the supposedly new girl had friends here and a...

Even the High Court justices heard migration cases in January but my Federal Court judge is still enjoying holidays.  It is February but he is still on holidays.   The High Court listed for the judgment in a migration case next week but my case in the Federal Court has no future listings because my judge has not even started working this year yet.  You are right.  I am cranky today. By the way, the High Court case which will be delivered next Wednesday is the Falzon case.  So if you are a migration lawyer, you have to keep an eye on the High Court page (www.hcourt.gov.au) next Wednesday. The Minister seems to want the public voting to select judges.  My inclination today is the partial support for the Minister's idea.  I propose a voting to strike off the judges of the Federal courts before a voting to select the State Courts judges.  Lazy judges should be struck off!  Yes, I am cranky today.  But I am also interested in w...

I got some documents from the Immigration through FOI.  It seems my litigation is looked after by a senior legal officer in the legal section.  The senior legal officer is taking instructions from the Directors of cancellation branch etc.  Obviously, I was severely demoted from 2006 when the Director of the legal section was taking instructions from the First Assistant Secretary who reported to the Deputy Secretary who had a meeting with the Minister regularly.  I am very happy with my rapid demotion in the last 11 years.  Hopefully, I will be demoted even further in the next week or two. Today, I tried an activity entitled 'Music'.  In that activity, a lecturer (the same one as knitting and ESL) distributed a sheet of paper which the lyric of one of Adele's songs was printed with some words were deleted.  Then while we listened to the song, we were required to fill in the missing words.  That's not music.  That's dictation!   ...

My friend whom I call a 'problem child' here finally got a visa today and got out of here.  Thank goodness.  One less worry now.  Another friend eventually received a long-awaited notice today to be sent back to his country where some money he recently had got unexpectedly as inheritance or whatever is waiting.  Yesterday, another friend who is an overstaying tourist successfully negotiated with the Immigration about a visa to go back home.  Last week, my stateless asylum seeker friend got a visa and went out.  So people here are going one after the other.   But my judge is still on holiday... Grrrr! Decades ago, my Parter often ridiculed me by saying 'When Villawood Survivor is not happy, the entire world will know.'  That was not true at all but today, I decided to lodge a few complaints to let someone know that I was not happy.  So I went to the website of the Australian Human Rights Commission to make a complaint by an online co...