Villawood suicide echoes 2000 incident
Villawood detention centre has been in the news all this week and as we go to air a new group of detainess, believed to be Chinese , are on the roof again threatening to jump. Monday saw the tragic suicide of Fijian Josefa Raeluni. He threatened to jump for some time and as far as is known expert negotiators were not called. This goes against recommendations brought in years ago after a similar suicide in 2000. In that case Tongan detainee Viliani Tanganoa died at Victoria’s Marybyrnong Centre after threatening suicide for 8 hours – human rights advocate Charandev Singh was involved in the case. he says the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has since spent large amounts of money on research into detention and mental health issues but this week’s suicide suggests that the knowledge hasn’t been translated into training for current detention centre staff.