ChilOut
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ChilOut (Children Out of Detention) is a group opposed to the mandatory imprisonment of children in immigration detention centres in Australia. The group was formed in 2001, in the context of the policies of the Howard government regarding asylum seekers in Australia.
The group was established after a program on ABC television showed an Iranian child called Shayan Badraie in immigration detention allegedly suffering post traumatic stress disorder.[1] ChilOut's aim was to change the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), to release all children and their families from mandatory and indefinite immigration detention. It did this mainly by petitioning media and politicians, through a growing community base of volunteers.
In 2005 ChilOut won the Community (Organisation) Award at the 2005 Human Rights Awards.
It now has over 2000 members. Most children in immigration detention in Australia have been released (as at July 2005). At that time the Migration Act 1968 (Cth) was amended to effectively say that children should only be detained as a last resort.[2]
[edit] See also
- Human rights
- HREOC
- Immigration detention
- Mandatory detention
- Mandatory detention in Australia
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Amnesty International
