Michael, an 11-year-old Iranian boy, arrived at the Woomera Detention Centre in April 2001. He was the best gift any teacher could have. Keen to learn, bright and studious, full of promise in our November compound classroom.
When my teaching contract finished I could not believe children like Michael could last much longer than six months without succumbing to the culture of despair which pervaded the centre. In my eight months as a teacher at Woomera, I could see that children started to go downhill after about six months. The children were however, more resilient than their parents who would often show signs of distress after three months following the rejection of their case for refugee status. In the end, though, how could the children not be affected when parents became depressed and dysfunctional, and when they witnessed acts of violence and self-harm?
In my first six-week contract in late 2000 one of my students was Shayan. His parents had fled political persecution in Iran. With some coaxing Shayan joined in with the activities. I had no idea of the trauma that would befall him.
In August 2001 I watched the ABC Four Corners program on six-year-old, Shayan who by then had been in detention for 17 months, first at Woomera and subsequently at Villawood Detention Centre where he had completely withdrawn from life. I barely recognised him. Aamer Sultan, a medical practitioner (also an Iraqi refugee) had identified Shayan’s condition as immigration-detention stress syndrome.
Shayan’s experience was not uncommon. As time progressed, children would stop coming to classes or were more listless. Two sisters, Nola, aged 11 and Sandra, aged nine, came to class initially and then withdrew. I tried to encourage them but they preferred to play in the dirt surrounding the classrooms. Their brothers, Alan and Matthew responded similarly.
They showed great potential in the classroom at first and then ‘switched off.’
Sarah, an Afghani girl, was unsure of her age. At the beginning of her detention stay she was enthusiastic and always arrived with a smile and headscarf faithfully in place. Soon, she became withdrawn. There were occasions when she returned to her former self but again the detention syndrome prevailed. About a year later, in the Easter protest of 2002 the outside world caught a snapshot of her emotional distress as one of the Australian protesters hugged her outside the razor wire. Sarah and her three brothers were quite