Collateral damage of immigration detention: new research

Australia's policy of indefinite mandatory detention is harming detainees' friends, family and supporters, according to a new study by the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies (SCHS) at The University of Sydney. Published last week,  Visiting Immigration Detention: Care and Cruelty in Australia's Asylum Seeker Prisons   documents the experiences of regular visitors to onshore immigration detention facilities around Australia. The new research comes just before Independent MP Andrew Wilkie is expected to reintroduce the ' Ending Indefinite and Arbitrary Detention Bill' to Federal Parliament. "A large body of evidence already exists concerning the devastating impacts of prolonged detention for people who are personally detained," SCHS sociologist Dr Michelle Peterie said. "We already know that immigration detention contributes to a range of health issues, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. "This study shows that immigration detention also imposes collateral harm beyond the detainee." The five-year study - which involved more than 70 in-depth interviews with people who visit immigration detention facilities as friends, family members, advocates, volunteers or activists - highlighted the corrosive impacts of even temporary interaction with Australia's detention system. "Most study participants reported a reduction in their mental health and wellbeing as a consequence of their experiences in detention.