Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Desert Abductions?
Via the Global Indymedia page comes this disturbing report of a woman, Cornelia Rau who was detained in the Baxter Immigration Detention Centre, where Australia apparently inters asylum seekers or illegal immigrants pending processing or investigation.
What's interesting here though is that Ms Rau was an Australian woman, not an immigrant or refugee. How did she end up in the detention centre?
According to the piece:
It occurs to me that if I was wandering naked through my local shopping centre, and arrested, should I give the Police a false name or refuse to, I would also be locked up while they sorted me out.
According to The Australian (newspaper) article linked to by the report, Rau's brother said:
Forgive me, but if a schizophrenic is wandering the Australian desert in a psychotic state, or would be more afraid of a mental health facility than an immigration detention center, surely the activists should be pointing their energy towards the Australian mental healthcare system for allowing such a situation in the first place?
They aren't.
The comments in the Indymedia piece are somewhat telling:
I believe the activists once again are choosing the wrong fight. This is not so much an Indymedia issue as a general left-wing/progressive/liberal movement problem manifested once again.
It's interesting to note however that the global IMC page is covering this Australian issue whereas the front page of Sydney is not. Melbourne and Perth's is but the Sydney newswire remains covered by Faruque Ahmed again, proof if there ever was any that there is a major problem with Australia's mental health assessment.
What's interesting here though is that Ms Rau was an Australian woman, not an immigrant or refugee. How did she end up in the detention centre?
According to the piece:
Ms Rau, was found by a group of Aborigines in Queensland on March 31 last year. Concerned about her psychotic state, they took her to police for her own safety. She did not identify herself to police and spoke only in German. The police then assumed she was an illegal immigrant and handed her over to immigration officials on April 5.There is no question that someone stuffed up bigtime. Indymedia and refugee advocates are demanding Australian Government blood over this issue.
...
Ms Rau has been held in Baxter's Red One isolation compound, where her psychotic behaviour had distressed other detainees
"Human Rights groups are calling for The Minister to resign..."Which Minister though? The Minister for Immigration.
It occurs to me that if I was wandering naked through my local shopping centre, and arrested, should I give the Police a false name or refuse to, I would also be locked up while they sorted me out.
According to The Australian (newspaper) article linked to by the report, Rau's brother said:
"I can only suppose she didn't identify herself because she didn't want to be put in a mental health facility, but she ended up being locked up in a far worse place."The refugee and immigration issue is a longstanding one for the Australian 'activist' community and this seems to be their latest ammunition.
Forgive me, but if a schizophrenic is wandering the Australian desert in a psychotic state, or would be more afraid of a mental health facility than an immigration detention center, surely the activists should be pointing their energy towards the Australian mental healthcare system for allowing such a situation in the first place?
They aren't.
The comments in the Indymedia piece are somewhat telling:
Very very little mental illness really exists......Very very little mental illness really exists indeed!
King Amdo 07.Feb.2005 21:32
....it's merely a result of the malaign way western society is 'foculised'...
Paranoid scitzaphrenic masonic scapegoat in the west......consciounsess/reality foculisating shamman/witch/holy person in the west
She might have just gone mad in he desert though....
Blessed be.
I believe the activists once again are choosing the wrong fight. This is not so much an Indymedia issue as a general left-wing/progressive/liberal movement problem manifested once again.
It's interesting to note however that the global IMC page is covering this Australian issue whereas the front page of Sydney is not. Melbourne and Perth's is but the Sydney newswire remains covered by Faruque Ahmed again, proof if there ever was any that there is a major problem with Australia's mental health assessment.
Comments:
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Thanks Sister Geoff.
To be honest, I'm not sure of the whole circumstances surrounding her 'decision' about where to stay. I took it entirely from the report as provided by Indymedia.
Additionally, I can't really buy into the whole immigration or detention debate. What I can say however is the radical-left have a longstanding habit of picking the worst possible side to align with. Communism once, Islamism today etc.
This happens in ignorance of other issues which aren't the "flavour of the month". A recurring example is criticism of human rights abuse in some countries to the exclusion of far worse abuses in others.
I raised it not out of ignoring the question of detention, but as it seems there is a major issue down-under of mental healthcare which has been ignored in preference to political pointscoring on another issue.
Cheers.
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To be honest, I'm not sure of the whole circumstances surrounding her 'decision' about where to stay. I took it entirely from the report as provided by Indymedia.
Additionally, I can't really buy into the whole immigration or detention debate. What I can say however is the radical-left have a longstanding habit of picking the worst possible side to align with. Communism once, Islamism today etc.
This happens in ignorance of other issues which aren't the "flavour of the month". A recurring example is criticism of human rights abuse in some countries to the exclusion of far worse abuses in others.
I raised it not out of ignoring the question of detention, but as it seems there is a major issue down-under of mental healthcare which has been ignored in preference to political pointscoring on another issue.
Cheers.
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