Wow some of this stuff is so terrible... thank you for sharing. More people should know about this so we can hold the Australian Government to task.

The stuff that goes on in immigration detention camps (in countries where asylum seekers either pass through or finally seek asylum) in general, is pretty horrible. I've met A LOT of refugees that were passing through Panama, last year (in order to get to the US). I could probably write a few good pages based on all the accounts they've shared. It wasn't as bad as this but still, it was bad: everyone working in Immigration, from the clerks and workers in camps, shelters and offices to the top frontier military commanders are corrupt to the core and rob the living shit out of any person that passes through. This is still happening as we speak in Panama.

Short story: amongst many, I've met a group from Somalia in Panama last year; I asked them how did they get the money to make the trip (from Brazil, South America up to the US); they said that their families had sold some of their (very humble) houses and moved in together in a crowded separate place, in order to provide part of the money for the trip; the whole cost is around 40-50 thousand dollars per person (including all the bribes at frontiers, through several countries, which is by far the largest cost); in case they couldn't gather all that money, the agent (organizer aka person with contacts aka 'digital coyote' aka mobster) would accept a debt so once they get to the US they'd have to work several years in order to pay it. They would always pay the debt, fearing that friends or relatives that would want to come at a later time, wouldn't be able to.