AN internal report provided to the Immigration Department has warned that, when Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young turns up at a detention centre, there is a corresponding spike in “incidents” involving asylum seekers.
The operational brief provided by the security company Serco to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection claimed “high profile” visits to detention centres sparked an increase in report-able “incidents” and “adverse behaviour” among detainees.
The report, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, cites lawyers and refugee groups among those considered high profile, and who are believed to prompt spikes in incidents at the centres during and after a visit.
But it singled out Ms Hanson Young, naming her as the “Greens Senator from South Australia”, and citing a visit to Christmas Island in January this year as being a catalyst for serious disturbances among the detainees. The department yesterday refused Ms Hanson-Young entry into Curtin detention centre in Western Australia after she demanded access to the 157 Tamil asylum seekers brought to the mainland after three weeks at sea aboard a Customs vessel.
The Serco report, however, revealed that, during a visit by the Senator to Christmas Island between January 24 to 28 this year, the number of incidents more than doubled to 15 from an average of around six.
It claimed that one ”incident of significance” required crowd control.
Ms Hanson Young yesterday claimed to have flown to Broome from Adelaide and then driven to the Curtin centre before she was told she would be denied entry.
She said she was concerned about the welfare of a number of children in the centre and claimed it was the first time she had been denied access.
“I have been there a number of times. I wanted to speak to the new asylum seekers detained there,” she said.
“This is highly suspicious that I have been denied access today. This is a political move by the Immigration Minister. What is he hiding? What doesn’t he want me to see?”
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison’s office said he had sought advice from the department when he became aware of Ms Hanson Young’s request to visit Curtin: “The minister was advised that access would not be appropriate in the interests of the good management and safety of the centre.”
Ms Hanson-Young could not be contacted for comment on the Serco report.
