Australia lauds RI and Malaysia

Australia lauds RI and Malaysia

Associated Press, Adelaide, Australia

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer paid tribute on Sunday to Indonesia and Malaysia for their recent efforts to crack down on people smuggling.

"The Indonesians and the Malaysians have been taking much more decisive action against the people smugglers themselves and we appreciate that," Downer said.

"For example, the Malaysians during the course of last week deported an Iraqi people smuggler from Malaysia. It was a good measure," he added.

Indonesia is in the process of organizing a summit aimed at bringing together different countries to hammer out a regional solution to the growing problem of criminal gangs who ship illegal immigrants from Asia to Australia.

Downer was speaking on the eve of a tour of Pacific nations during which he hopes to persuade governments to accommodate asylum seekers turned away by Australia under a hardline new policy adopted in August.

Downer is expected during his trip to ask Nauru President Rene Harris to take 500 more asylum seekers for processing. The nation already accommodates 800 in camps, with Australia footing the bill.

Downer will visit Nauru, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand during the course of his trip, which begins on Monday.

In another development, Australia's controversial boat people detention centers came under fresh criticism on Sunday, this time from psychiatrists and doctors saying the centers were damaging the mental health of asylum seekers.

The Australian and New Zealand Royal College of Psychiatrists called on Sunday for its members not to work in detention centers saying they were traumatizing the boat people.

"All medical practitioners should think carefully about the ethical issues involved before they accept any positions in the detention centers...," said college chair Louise Newman.

"These are environments that are fundamentally traumatizing and disturbing to the people who are in them. There is nothing in the way of adequate treatment of individuals and children who are suffering the effects of trauma -- some of whom are very depressed, suicidal and self-harming," said Newman.

An article published in the yet-to-be-released December issue of the Medical Journal of Australia said the intimidating and harsh environment of detention centers threatened the mental health of asylum seekers, said Australian Associated Press.

The authors, one of whom was detained in Sydney's Villawood center, warned prolonged confinement in detention centers could have severe psychologically disabling effects on asylum seekers, said the domestic agency.

"The physical environment (of Villawood) is intimidating," Dr Aemer Sultan, an Iraqi, and his co-author psychologist Kevin O'Sullivan, said in the journal report.

"We have observed harsh and uncompassionate handling of asylum seekers by staff," they said.

The authors found most detainees were at risk of, or suffered, post-traumatic illnesses before arriving in Australia, with detention further threatening their psychological state.

"Detainees are routinely handcuffed during transportation to and from the facility for medical or legal appointments," they said. "Concerns have been raised about doctors authorizing sedative medication for containment..."