Illegal Immigrants Detention Centres example essay topic

Topic - "The Federal Government has no right to place illegal immigrants in detention centres". Every year, thousands of illegal immigrants arrive on Australian shores in hope for a better life. However, once they arrive, they are taken to detention centres where they are held for months, even years. Australia's migration act requires all foreign nationals unlawfully in Australia to be detained. If they are not given permission to stay they are deported.

Perhaps this is harsh. After all, they are just looking for a better life. Those who are detained include people who have arrived in Australia without a visa or have overstayed their visa. But does the government have a right to do this? The practice of detaining illegal immigrants is consistent with our legal principles, that the State determines which non citizens are permitted to remain and those who are not. This policy aims to ensure that the integrity of Australia's migration and humanitarian programs and also prevent unauthorised arrivals from entering Australia.

From this it would seem that we do have a right to place illegal immigrants in detention centres. It is clear that if you arrive at any country without the correct travel documents you cannot expect to be welcomed with open arms. Steps need to be in place for such circumstances. It is also clear that we cannot allow strangers from overseas to enter our country without investigating their background to ensure our national security. On the other hand, the media has portrayed the conditions of these detention centres as far from the Australian lifestyle as these immigrants were in search for. Under the Migration Act, immigration detention is supposed to be administrative detention, not a prison or correctional facility.

However, pictures of these detention centres, Wommera, show another story. The fences are topped with barbed wire, security is high, and regular head counts take place. Very prison like. The dignity of these detainee's are supposed to be upheld, but media reports show the detainee's trying to kill themselves.

It's obvious the situation is far out of control and we need new ways of dealing with these people who are only trying to escape the poverty, injustice, and economical crisis they face in their own countries. These immigrants took drastic measures just to get here, and we put them in prison like detention centres while they are processed to find out whether or not they deserve permanent residence here. Surely if they come all this way they deserve better than to be sent back to their own devastated country. In my personal opinion, I think that the Federal Government does have a right to place illegal immigrants in detention centres. However, the standards of which these immigrants are placed in are not acceptable.

I think we have to give the whole process a serious overhaul to cater for their needs and have a more organised management system. If we are going to detain these immigrants, we want the time spent the detention centres to be as small as possible. They have come here looking for a new life, not the insides of a detention centre. If that's all we can offer them, then you have to ask yourself: What's the point?