We the undersigned believe that asylum seekers should be notified before they are transferred.
The February 5 transfer of fourteen child asylum seekers and fourteen adults from the Port Augusta residential centre to a Darwin facility was poorly handled. The detainees should have been given more than twenty-four hours to prepare for their transfer.
The detainees had formed relationships with members of the local community who they were unable to contact and inform of the move. They had built lives for themselves at the Port Augusta facility which they were abruptly forced to abandon.
Please provide asylum seekers with appropriate notification before future transfers.
