A series of pictures drawn by young children held in detention on Christmas Island are to be submitted to the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention.
The simple illustrations, many of which show people crying behind bars, were drawn by kids during a visit to the facility by inquiry staff. There are concerns about the prevalence self-harm among children in detention.
The new images come as the inquiry resumes in Sydney today, when Immigration Minister Scott Morrison is due to give evidence.
There are currently 895 children in immigration detention, 712 of whom are in locked facilities in Australia. The remainder is in Nauru. Many are unaccompanied.
Between January last year and March this year, there were 128 reported actual self-harm incidences by children in closed immigration detention facilities in Australia.
For the pictures, the children were given paper and textas and asked to draw something about their life. Their resulting depictions represent their submission, for which they’ve given consent, to the inquiry.
Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have a right to express their views on matters affecting them.
This image drawn by a child on Christmas Island are to be submitted to the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention.
There are currently 895 children in immigration detention.
Between January last year and March this year, there were 128 reported actual self-harm incidences by children in closed immigration detention facilities in Australia.
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The pictures are said to have been drawn after the children were asked to draw something about their lives.
This image appears to show the rain coming down on shivering detainees.
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The new images come as the inquiry resumes in Sydney on Friday.
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