Refugees were brought to Australia from offshore detention, mostly for medical treatment

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

An immigration guard working at a Brisbane hotel being used as a makeshift detention centre has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting fears the confined refugee population could be vulnerable to an outbreak.

The hotel, at Kangaroo Point in inner Brisbane, is used by Australian Border Force to house refugees brought to Australia from offshore detention, mostly to receive specialist medical treatment.

Guardian Australia reported last year concerns that conditions were inhospitable, cramped and dirty.

On Wednesday at 8.30pm, detainees were assembled and read a statement that confirmed a guard, an employee of the contractor Serco, employed at the Kangaroo Point hotel had “tested positive to Covid-19”.

It is unclear whether the guard also worked at a separate Brisbane detention centre at the airport, also staffed by Serco.

Detainees were told the guard had last been at the Kangaroo Point hotel on 7 March.

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“The Department of Home Affairs has been advised today that a Serco guard employed at the Kangaroo Point [alternative place of detention], tested positive to Covid -19. [We are] working with Queensland Health to confirm these reports,” an unidentified woman, understood to be a government representative, told detainees. Guardian Australia has heard an audio recording of the meeting.

“The department and its service providers will provide assistance as required by Queensland Health. The staff member has not been working in the detention facility since the 7th of March this year, that is 11 days ago. That’s important.

“As the Covid-19 situation continues to evolve in Australia and around the world, the department have initiated measures in detention facilities in line with advice from the commonwealth Department of Health … which includes the screening of all staff, restrictions on visits, non-contact visits, and additional cleaning of high-traffic areas.”

Detainees have not been tested. While the cohort is essentially being kept in isolation from the outside world, they and advocates are concerned the cramped conditions are not safe. They say common areas used for meals and activities are small.

“Isolation is about trying to keep the virus out. If it gets in, everyone will get it,” a refugee advocate told Guardian Australia.

The Australian Border Force said in a statement detainees were told about the diagnosis shortly after authorities became aware.

“The Department and its service providers are working with and on the advice of Queensland health officials and will undertake any contact tracing they identify as necessary,” the statement said.

An asylum seeker in Melbourne was isolated and underwent medical tests after showing symptoms similar to Covid-19 late last week. Video footage from inside the MITA detention centre in Melbourne shows his room being cleaned and sterilised by staff in gloves, protective clothing and masks.

The man, who has been detained for a number of years, has been isolated and is recovering. He has not been told whether he was tested for Covid-19 or just for influenza. Sources have told the Guardian he was “petrified” he had coronavirus.

Refugees and asylum seekers inside detention centres say there is a growing fear that Covid-19 could spread rapidly within the detention population.

Many people held in detention in Australia, in immigration detention facilities or designated Apods (alternative places of detention), came to Australia under the now-defunct medevac laws, which prioritised doctor’s concerns for people held offshore with serious health conditions.

Many have not yet received treatment in Australia and are still seriously unwell.

Alison Battisson, principal director of Human Rights for All, who represents a number of asylum seekers in detention, said the government needed to prioritise the health of those it held in detention, particularly those with already-compromised health or chronic conditions.

“Politics has no place in a pandemic,” she said. “This needs to be treated as the health emergency it is. We’ve learned of this Covid-19 connection with detention centres, and we think it’s time for the government to work on a sensible approach to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing.

“I have had a number of people call me very distressed, very worried about potential health concerns, even about basic healthcare, a lack of toilet paper and soap in detention centres.”

A spokesman for the Department of Home Affairs said there were no confirmed cases of Covid-19 among the detained populations at MITA or in the broader detention network. He said ABF was focused on the health and safety of detainees and staff.

“If clinically indicated, detainees will be isolated and tested in line with advice from the Department of Health and the broader commonwealth response,” he said.

“A range of measures have been introduced to keep detainees and staff informed of preventive measures and plans have been established to manage any suspected cases of Covid-19.”

MITA and other detention centres have implemented “no-contact” visits from last week.

Advocates for asylum seekers and refugees say the Apods – being used as places of held detention – could be converted to community detention at the direction of the home affairs minister (the immigration minister, David Coleman, is on leave). This would allow asylum seekers and refugees to leave the centres and reduce the security required at them.

Some refugees and asylum seekers in detention have family members living in the Australian community with whom they could live. Others have friends and supporters who have expressed a willingness to assist.

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Globally, the resettlement of refugees has been dramatically curtailed. The UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration are suspending all refugee resettlements indefinitely.

“This is a temporary measure that will be in place only for as long as it remains essential,” they said.

“As resettlement remains a lifesaving tool for many refugees, UNHCR and IOM are appealing to states, and working in close coordination with them, to ensure that movements can continue for the most critical emergency cases wherever possible.”

About 40 refugees now held in Papua New Guinea have been accepted for resettlement in the US. But sources in PNG say their transfers are almost certainly going to be delayed even further. Most have been held in PNG under Australia’s offshore processing regime for more than seven years.