As a guest of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Patrick McGorry who is a leading mental health researcher as well as someone who has been forthright about these immigration detention centers visited the Christmas Island. McGorry has also been named as the Australian of the Year and is known to have described the place as a factory for mental illness.

The three detention centers present on this island of the Indian Ocean would be inspected by Professor McGorry. This also includes a camp of former worker’s where the detained include those families and children. This inspection is being carried amidst the rising focus on occurrences pertaining to self-harm and conflicts between the asylum seekers.

Professor McGorry had suspicions in prior that these detained people were most likely to suffering from mental health problems. This is because of the trauma and torture that they have undergone in their native countries.

As of now, there are approximately 2500 illegal migrants who have been detained on the Christmas Island and two boats are on the way, suspected of carrying asylum seekers. At the same time, the island gates are open for refugee advocates but the Department has never permitted a high profile mental health expert to conduct an inspection. Infact, the refugee advocates also feel that the long timelines for processing tend to affect these asylum seekers. Some of these detainees have been in here for more than a year.

McGorry has called for both the key political parties to show a moral leadership that is two-way with respect to this issue. However, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard has denied his stance on letting these detainees to be permitted to reside in the community while their claims are being processed. As per the Prime Minister, it is important that health and security checks to completed.

In a recent Immigration amendment, Australia has stop taking in the applications from Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers in an attempt to cut down the excessive inflow of boat people coming into the premises. According to Immigration minister Chris Evans, the Aussie authorities would adjourn all the boats carrying asylum seekers from the concerned countries.

The minister said that the announced changes would send a strong message to all the illegal immigrants as well as people who bootleg people from one country to another.

No further statement has been confirmed with regard to boat people who come from other Asian countries as the minister refused to say anything whether the amendments would affect the flow of desperate asylum seekers or not.

An official from UN refugee agency UNHCR called the trafficking of people as an aspect which is out of control. He went on to say that the asylum seekers would rather opt for the short cut ways rather than waiting for their case to be dealt by the Immigration officials, adding that the problem is growing!

Evans said that the country is expecting more boats to come but hoped that the recent changes would play a critical role in “people smuggling” over time. He also said that the message which he wants to spread is that the Australian circumstances are changing.

Also, the country is finding it hard to accommodate plenty of illegal immigrants who arrive in the country every year. Even the detention center in the Christmas Island is getting out of control, with huge number of detainees flocking in every year.

The sixty asylum seekers at the Christmas Island included Iraqis who were shifted to the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney. These asylum seekers would found as a boat crew which also has many small children.

These Iraqi men made an attempt to protest on the North West Point detention centre which is at the remote of the Christmas Island. These men are among those thirty four people on the pathway to be removed and thus have been sent to Villawood. They have been told that the Australian Immigration Department does not owe any form of protection for these people.

It was noticed that inspite of their constant protects, these men did not seem to be angry. Some of them were found to be rejoicing at the thought of reconciling with their other asylum mates.

According to the Coordinator of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre in Melbourne, David Manne, it would not be right for the government to state that these men are on the pathway to be removed or rather “Removal Pathway” before their situation has been evaluated in the court.

It has to be realized that all refugees at the Christmas Island are within rights to compete for a prior decision brought out by the department in a merit review that is independent. This process is non – statutory in nature which is aimed to reflect the Refugee Review Tribunal.

As per Manne, a minimum of a third of the entire refugees are found to attain success on these Refugee Review Tribunal.

Thus, appropriate words to be used are a must since it is their future which is at stake.

Christmas Island has been in news for almost two weeks now. Media saw the transportation of detainees from the Detention Center of Christmas land to the one on the mainland. Later, the island got median attention when its main detention center exceeded its capacity of detainees, allowing some of the people to stay in rooms mean for teaching English and taking interviews.

Recently, a minor protest was witnessed on Christmas Island, after two protests which happened over the weekend already. One of them included smashing a TV set and the other one saw windows being broken with detainees throwing balls at them.

A spokesman confirmed that a total of 25 detainees were involved in the incident, while yesterday’s occurrence saw 9 people going on for a hunger strike. The news of a security guard being brutally smashed has not been confirmed yet.

The incidents are happening on the verge of center’s capacity exceeding its actual number, creating huge hurdles day by day. The department is saying that it can handle the quantity, but occurrences of such types are pointing out in some direction.

Spokesman from Refugee Action Coalition says that occurrences of such kinds would continue to hike up until the detainees are brought to the mainland. Also, the lack of transparency about what is happening in the detention center is making the issue worse.

He said that he is expecting to see a worse situation that what is seen in today’s scenario, courtesy the overcrowded detention center.

According to Australian media, the Christmas Island Detention Center has no space for further detainees as it has already crossed its extent of 2040 detainees.

The limit crossed when a close to 150 asylum seekers were recently transferred to the Detention Center. Reports cleared that the surplus asylum seekers had to sleep in other sections meant for teaching English and other rooms meant for carrying out Interviews with the Immigration officials.

As a result, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has found ample reasons to criticize the current government saying that Rudd’s government needs to be tough while handling the boat people.

He specified that under Howard government, they witnessed three boats per annum while the figures have turned to three boats in a weak, under present scenario. He further mocked that when we talk about unauthorized arrivals, the records will cross all boundaries.

Further, the arrival of asylum seekers from Afghan and Iranian has worsen the situation further. But a spokesman for the department confirmed that the island still has room for more detainees. He confirmed that there is room for today’s arrivals. The arrivals have exceeded the capacity despite transferring plenty of detainees to the mainland last week.

The criticism from Tony Abbott was not enough that immigration spokesman Scott Morrison went on to mock that island has now become a revolving door.

Surely, Rudd’s government has plenty to think for now!

In a recent incident, four detainees have managed to fly away from Sydney’s detention centre, forcing the Immigration authorities to drain ample sweat out there. Additionally, the government officials are facing enough pressure after this incident, as it has questioned the credibility of the security system as a whole.

The detainees were kept in the Sydney’s Villawood detention centre. Reports say that one person flew away by hiding under a vehicle, another one managed to get out of the jail when they were taken out to pray at the local church, and so on. The moves sound just like scenes from any Hollywood flick, but these certainly are realities in their own. Hence, it is a big reason for the government officials to think in detail about the security management of the detention centre.

Now the police authorities in NSW are on their mission to know the whereabouts the culprits, who managed to fly away like birds in the sky, so easily! The pressure has surely built upon the Immigration officials.

The escape happened after the Federal Government planned to move the detainees from Christmas Island. As a result, the opposition has blamed the government for making Christmas Island turn into a Visa Factory! According to various sources, it was speculated that people inside the centre were told that they would get visas and would be taken to mainland for a better life!

Senator Evans defended that the transferring of the detainees happened only because of the fact that the island was getting overcrowded.

There are times when you would want to be aloof, go away from the materialistic world and hide into a serene ambiance all alone! Also, there are times when you want to be independent and explore the world of your own. This blog of mine comprises of some of the hottest and spiciest destinations to travel alone (you can say ‘independently!’)

Belize: A Lilliputian English-speaking American country having a freezy ambiance and some of the best resorts to indulge into! With the increase in its popularity, a lot of celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Francis Ford Coppola, including others have already booked their places in the serene environment of Belize.

Pittsburgh: Again it is my choice, so I don’t blame anyone for not choosing the same. The best part about the place is the nighttime view from the amazing Mount Washington. No matter whether you are alone or with some one special, the view always makes the place unique in itself!

The next on the list would be Queenstown, New Zealand. It is a paradise for all those snowboarders and skiers out there, plus serves as a brilliant travel destination to relax and calm down your nerves. The public transportation is amazing and not to forget the possibility of exploring the entire place, courtesy the rented vehicles that are easily available in Queenstown.

Next I would like to put my money on Sicily. The island is decked with some of the beautiful and most enchanting scenic views one can only think of. The seafood is out of this world, including the prices that are noticeably cheaper as compared to other Italian cities. An independent traveler would surely love every aspect of Sicily, be it beach, fishing, swimming, seafood, Italian culture and so on. Just consult a Travel Visa expert and head on towards a calm, exciting and independent journey.