Not many people would support a 10-year-old being put in prison without ever having committed a crime. In Australia, however, most do not question why a young child has been detained for over a year, for no reason except that she happens to be an asylum seeker who arrived on their shores.

This Vietnamese girl, along with 26 other minors, is currently being detained in the Darwin Airport Lodge – a place where children have been prohibited from using crayons and colouring pens inside their own rooms. With nowhere left to turn she handed a letter to the community officer going to visit her, pleading for help. She and the other children are living in conditions that she describes as "extremely depressing". She says they are "suffering", their lives are "very sad and hopeless" and that they "lack any sense of a future". She's been in detention for more than a year now, kept under lock and key by her legal guardian, Australia's immigration minister, Chris Bowen. She doesn't know when she will be released or what her future will hold.

The response from the government has been typically mute. There were the usual statements from the Green party in response, but nothing from the governing Labor party or the opposing Liberals. That's because this girl is not an unusual case. As of 31 March 2012 there were 1,019 children held in detention in Australia. 428 of those in "secure locked facilities". Their fate seemingly worse than those of prisoners who at least have an end date for the time they have to serve.

The number of asylum seekers coming to Australia is relatively small. The EU takes in as many asylum seekers in two weeks as Australia does all year. Australia is also bucking the worldwide trend of increasing numbers of people seeking asylum on foreign shores. While there was a 20% increase from 2010 to 2011 of people seeking asylum in 44 industrialised nations, Australia saw a 9% decrease. Despite this, both major parties in the country can't help but stir up hysteria about Australia's borders being "flooded" by asylum seekers. The brutal treatment of these people is a vote winner and Australian politicians continue to fall over themselves to demonstrate how they will strengthen what are already some of the harshest immigration laws in the world.

Policymakers in Australia, however, have to balance the public's desire for continued tightening of immigration controls versus maintaining a steady population growth against a background of an ageing population. It is predicted that by 2036 more Australians will be retiring from the labour force than joining it. By 2050 there will only be 2.5 working Australians for every citizen over 65 – in the 1970s that figure was 7.5. The main solution policymakers seem to have come up with is to throw money at the problem.

In 2002, perhaps in response to Australia's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) reaching an all time low, the government introduced a baby bonus scheme. For every child born or adopted by a citizen or permanent resident of Australia the government will award them $5,000. Australia's TFR has risen since then, yet it still remains below replacement levels of 2.1 births per woman. If the baby bonus wasn't enough, the government is now introducing a jobs bonus, where employers will be offered $1,000 for each employee they hire and retain over 50 years of age. These seem like desperate measures from a government running out of ideas.

For the 10-year-old holed up in detention, the government really does have no idea. The so-called "lucky country" she wants to call home is turning its back on her. The response could and should be so different. She could have been treated with compassion and understanding, she could have been integrated into society and allowed to reach her fullest potential. She could be an active, contributing member of the future workforce, tasked with supporting the oldies who didn't want to have anything to do with her when she first arrived into the country. It is not too late yet, all these things can still happen. But based on the government's response to cases like hers she can be forgiven for not feeling too optimistic. About 50% of all asylum applications are turned down.

"The liberty of a child is a fundamental human right" – this sentiment was outlined by the campaign to end the immigration detention of children, launched at the United Nations human rights council last month. The same organisation has started a global petition to end this policy. I hope Australia will act, open its eyes, its ears and most importantly its heart to these vulnerable children with nowhere left to turn.

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