They said they would prefer to die free than be detained for ever. The reality is that the centres are worse than prisons. Most are located in remote and inhospitable desert regions, where summer temperatures regularly exceed 45 degrees Celsius. Detainees live in overcrowded conditions, with few, if any, recreational facilities. Newspapers and television viewing are largely proscribed and inmates are often unable to contact their families for months.
Guards are abusive and frequently violent.
The most vulnerable detainees, particularly the young, become severely disturbed, depressed and suicidal. The Curtin riot was only the latest in a series of protests, riots, mass breakouts and hunger strikes sparked by the sub-human conditions and lengthy delays in the processing of applications. Enraged by the successful escape, the government authorised immigration officials and police to raid more than 50 homes of visitors to the detention centre or members of local refugee support groups. The home of ABC radio current affairs presenter John Highfield was one of them, because of his wife's involvement in advocacy for refugee children. Arsalan Nazarian from the Free the Refugee Campaign attacked the action.