It is my Friday Lay Day blog and it is going to be relatively quick. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal (December 23, 2015) – Economists Say ‘Bah! Humbug!’ to Christmas Presents – that says a lot about how my profession struggles to appreciate reality in all its dimensions. Every year, it…
Friday lay day blog
It is Friday and so a short blog only. It has been a terrible week for Australian government abuse of human rights. I have dealt with the treatment of the unemployed already this week. Yesterday, it was revealed that the federal government is exhibiting the same behaviour that characterises totalitarian regimes. We often get moralising lectures from so-called liberals about abuses in, say North Korea, including the suppression of information which helps the regime sustain activities that would not be tolerated by the public if they were aware. Welcome to Australia.
The ABC Radio News broke the story yesterday. The issue is outlined in the following ABC News article (July 31, 2014) – Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs labels asylum seeker inquiry evidence ‘damning’.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is currently conducting a – National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention.
The basis of this Inquiry is that the Australian government mandates that anyone who seeks refugee status in Australia and doesn’t have a valid visa is imprisoned with their families.
The Commission notes that:
The vast majority of children who are in immigration detention are children who arrived in Australia by boat, seeking asylum. Some of them came with family members, but some of them came alone.
The Commission produced a – National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014: Discussion Paper – which provides details.
Many children are held on Manus Island (PNG) as part of the indecent ‘Pacific Solution’. This involves the Australian government providing cash to a less developed country in return for setting up prisons there.
There has been on-going concern about the treatment of the refugees while they are imprisoned. The average time is getting longer – currently over 300 days.
The Inquiry was told today by the director of mental health services at detention centre service provider International Health and Mental Services (IHMS) who was close to the action for the last three years, that there are alarming rates of mental illness among children as a result of being forced to live in prison.
He said that “the incidence of mental health problems among children detainees is about 30 per cent higher than the normal child population”.
He told the Inquiry that when he submitted a report to the Immigration Department recently he was told to alter the findings.
He told the Inquiry that the data is:
… very concerning. It’s quite clear that a large number of children have significant distress,
In further questioning he said:
The department has been very negative towards the results … They are concerned about what the figures are showing … They have asked us to withdraw the figures from the reporting.
That’s right – you read it right.
The Australian government has deliberately told one of its privatised co=opted organisations who do its dirty work to repress information about the mental health issues of children they are holding in prison so that the Australian public doesn’t find out.
That is what totalitarian governments do.
Sociopaths suppressing evidence. What a nation we have become.
Some music with a difference
This video tells a story about another human rights abuse in Palestine etc.
Saturday Quiz
The Saturday Quiz will be back again tomorrow. It will be of an appropriate order of difficulty (-:
That is enough for today!
(c) Copyright 2014 Bill Mitchell. All Rights Reserved.
Poor bugger my country.
Just like Hitler only with this lot you don’t get the full employment option.
Bill et al.
If you show support for the Palestinian children, and someone calls you an anti-semite, just politely remind them that the Palestinians are a semitic people too -like all the people of the middle-east.
It’s not just Hebrew, the Islamic language is also derived from the ancient semitic language.
Sentimentalism is not conducive to rational thinking.
Irrational thinking leads to toxic behaviour.
Irrational thinking by the herd leads to disaster.
Australia goes fascist ?
The treatment of asylum seekers, the gag order(s) over the press, the treatment of the poor, the aboriginals, the sick.
Are the people of Australia really that unaware, apathetic or what?
“Australia goes fascist?” etc
More hysteria,already.
Do you have any idea of the meaning of a fascist regime? I suggest that you read some history of the first half of the 20th century.
If that is too intellectually demanding then just sit and watch some TV and you will see the budding of two 21st century fascist states – Russia and China.
Much as I dislike and disapprove of our current Cretins In Charge I would never accuse them of being fascist. Our CIC are a pathetic bunch of neoconservative twits – a fashionable disease.
In other words,they are simply stupid,which is the meaning of “cretin”.
fascist = etno-centric people known for their hostility toward other ethnic groups, and any group of people who would deviate from the norm, like people with disabilities. QED