ChilOut (Children Out of Detention) is a group opposed to the

mandatory detention Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a vi ...

of children under 18 in

immigration detention Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a vi ...

centres in Australia. The group was formed in 2001, in the context of the policies of the Howard government regarding

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

in Australia. The group was inspired by program on

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

showed an Iranian child called Shayan Badraie in immigration detention suffering

post traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

. A refugee advocate describes her response when she first saw the boy: "At first I believed he was a fake boy; a child made to look like a boy, a fundraiser for famine in Africa." (''Acting from the Heart'', Sarah Mares and Louise Newman (eds), p 6). ChilOut's aim was to change the

Migration Act 1958 The ''Migration Act 1958'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that governs immigration to Australia. It set up Australia’s universal visa system (or entry permits). Its long title is "An Act relating to the entry into, and pres ...

, to release all children and their families from mandatory and indefinite immigration detention. It did this mainly by petitioning media and politicians. In 2005, ChilOut won the Community (Organisation) Award at the 2005 Human Rights Awards. At its zenith it had over 4,000 members. Most children in immigration detention in Australia have been released (as at July 2005). At that time the Migration Act 1968 was amended to effectively say that children should only be detained as a last resort. The group dissolved itself upon the election of the Labor government in 2007 under the mistaken belief that the ALP would be more progressive on refugee rights than the Howard government. The group reformed in 2011 when they realised that this was not the case. ChilOut made a submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission's National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention in 2014. According to the Department of Immigration there were 1731 children in locked detention in Australia as at August 2013.
.Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship. Immigration Detention Statistics Summary. Retrieved on 13 August 2013.

References

{{Reflist

External links

ChilOut

HREOC Children in Detention Report

Migration Act 1958 (Cth)

2001 establishments in Australia Children's rights organizations Political organisations based in Australia Child-related organisations in Australia

See also

References

External links