COVID-19 IMPACTS ON IMMIGRATION DETENTION: GLOBAL RESPONSES The legal community has made a number of attempts to seek court10 or administrative11 rulings in relation to detainees that are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. Whilst these cases have managed to demonstrate that people in detention are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and that the Australian Government owes a duty of care to these people12, the Government has persistently argued that risk of infection in detention is lower than in the community. They have also cited legal restrictions preventing releases from detention as a result of serious breaches of the law and adverse security assessments. Therefore, whilst legal pursuits have been successful in determining heightened COVID-19 infection risk in detention they have been unsuccessful in brokering releases from detention. Calls for the urgent release of people seeking asylum, refugees and other non-citizens held in immigration detention centres began as soon as the magnitude and reach of the global health crisis associated with COVID-19 became clear.13 Public support for releasing low threat detainees has been high with petitions such as the #saferathome petition raising over 57,000 signatures14. Some doctors have been protesting outside detention for 300 nights as part of the Indefinite Sleepout to End Indefinite Detention campaign15 and public support has also been in the form of an open letter from doctors, academics and other professionals calling for releases16. Some refugee advocates have also ignored COVID-19 restrictions to protest against detention in Brisbane17 and several rallies have been held there. CONCLUSION Australia has clearly remained unwavering in its policy of mandatory detention despite the capacity and precedent for alternatives to be used. Although the Australian Government has shown willingness to follow the advice of public health experts in relation to the broader community, it has not heeded expert recommendations regarding people in detention. The preferred approach has been to focus on quarantine by keeping COVID-19 out of detention facilities and to utilise Christmas Island and other detention facilities throughout Australia to minimise overcrowding and risk of transmission. Despite various attempts by civil society to utilise the law and public or moral pressure, the Government has chosen to maintain a hardline approach rather than seek an opportunity to show leniency in the interests of the health of detainees. This is, however, consistent with the lack of compassion shown to non-residents in the Australian community during the pandemic. DAVID KEEGAN CEO, HOST International Ltd ARASH BORDBAR Chair, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) Many health experts have identified detention centres as extremely high-risk places for both infection and onward transmission of COVID-19 and have urged the Government to follow social distancing and health advice. They have also advocated for release where possible18. Health experts have also questioned the suitability of confinement or isolation as an infection management strategy in detention on the grounds that it could further traumatise refugee detainees19 as isolation conditions in detention are associated with detainees with severe behavioural issues. Additionally, conditions may be triggering for refugees who may have experienced previous trauma in similar settings. Overall, Australian civil society has been persistent in raising public concerns about the plight of detainees, and in seeking to exercise both legal and moral pathways towards alternatives to formal detention in the Australian context. 10 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/22/sick-refugee-at-risk-of-covid-19-launches-high-court-bid-for-release-from-australian-immigrationdetention 11 https://piac.asn.au/2020/05/07/covid-19-group-complaint-for-asylum-seekers-at-risk-in-immigration-detention-calls-for-urgent-investigation/ 12 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-11/man-immigration-detention-to-be-moved-due-to-coronavirus-risk/12543302 13 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1741659020946178 14 https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-spread-of-covid-19-in-immigration-detention-centres-saferathome 15 https://www.sbs.com.au/news/these-doctors-have-slept-outside-for-300-nights-to-protest-australia-s-refugee-detention 16 https://docs.google.com/document/d/16M02AA9KvM1G45JM3iiP4xpP9JuAOzIEac8mneL03ms/edit 17 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-21/refugee-detained-in-brisbane-hotel-describes-pain-and-sadness/12377532 18 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/24/we-are-sitting-ducks-for-covid-19-asylum-seekers-write-to-pm-after-detainee-tested-inimmigration-detention 19 Human Rights for All Senate submission https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=46517825-312d-466f-9725-e874745de59d&subId=682951 idcoalition.org | westernsydney.edu.au/hadri 11