This week, I, alongside a group of advocates, refugees and politicians, stepped into the Australian parliament to launch a campaign for a royal commission into the Australian detention system. For me, this moment marked the culmination of a decade of waiting and fighting to expose this system – a surreal and historic moment for refugees who have experienced the brutality and violence of the detention industry.
The Australian detention system was established to destroy us, but we refugees are still here, as testament to the many years over which we have been fighting for justice. Proving our existence through performance has been a key tactic at the heart of our fight and journey for years. Launching the inquiry alongside refugees and allies, there was once again performance: first, many years ago, we refugees were banished to Manus Island and Nauru to be out of sight and out of mind. But years later, today, we are standing here, fully visible, and calling for a royal commission and for justice.
We stand here to remind everyone that we still exist.
The royal commission stands out as one of the few institutions in which the Australian people still place their trust. While much of the media and major political parties played a role in fostering the tragedy of our plight, the royal commission can tell the truth.
Our call for a royal commission is not just about informing the public of the atrocities within Australia’s detention system – much of it has already been exposed and documented by platforms such as the Guardian. Instead, it is about uncovering the concealed layers that the system has diligently hidden from public view. There are many layers to this highly complex system that still we don’t know, and it is important that these are investigated and exposed.
This system, shrouded in secrecy, has inflicted immeasurable damage – both mentally and physically – on hundreds of innocent individuals and families. It is their right to know who bears responsibility for their suffering.
This truth is not solely the right of refugees; it is the right of the Australian public. The deaths under this system demand an independent investigation – a right owed to the families and friends left in the dark.
We know how Reza Barati was killed in February 2014, but we don’t know how the system tried to hide the truth from the public. We know that Faysal Ishak Ahmed was killed because of medical neglect, but we don’t know which individual was directly responsible for that. We refugees know Hamid Kehazaei was struggling for months to receive medical treatment for an infection on his leg, but we don’t know who within the system prevented him from getting treatment.
We refugees and the public know a lot, but we still don’t know much more than how the system has been designed and worked to create such a tragedy. A royal commission will expose deep layers of this system, and the public will become aware of the magnitude of this tragedy. An independent investigation into fatalities in these prison camps is yet to be conducted, emphasising the crucial need for families and friends to uncover the truth.
Beyond the human rights violations, the investigation must expose the exorbitant amount of money poured into this detention industry – a sophisticated torture machine that has cost billions. If there are winners of this tragedy, it is those private security companies who hold multimillion-dollar contracts with the Australian government.
The public has a right to scrutinise the level of corruption embedded in this system – to identify those who profited and the politicians complicit in these contracts.
Uncertainty and lack of transparency have remained key ways of perpetuating and growing Australia’s detention industry. We refugees who have experienced the violence of Australia’s detention system deeply understand the brutality of this regime, but what is really important for us is that a royal commission investigation means that we will be heard.
The royal commission signifies not only an investigation, but also a collective acknowledgment of the trauma suffered by those who committed no crime but sought asylum in Australia.
The call for a royal commission is a joint endeavour, a fight alongside civil society in Australia, to unveil the truth and seek justice. In this demand, we assert our existence, declaring that the survivors of the Australian detention regime are not only alive but undeniably present in the ongoing narrative of this enduring tragedy.
• Behrouz Boochani is a writer and former refugee in Manus. He lives in Wellington, New Zealand
