Immigration Detention Environments in Australia: Children's Rights and Wellbeing

Many countries use detention as a border management policy for refugees and people seeking asylum, including children. Detention facilities range from tent encampments to high-security prisons. Despite the diversity, all these environments potentially cause children harm. The structures of built environments used for immigration detention are inseparable from their function and the political context in which they are employed. The authors draw on international evidence about immigration-related incarceration—including detained children's own words, drawings and play—to describe how the built environments in which children are detained contribute to preventable harm. They also discuss the human rights and policy implications.