1,249 Australian doctors signed a letter to the Government calling for people seeking asylum and refugees to be released from detention immediately because of the threat of Covid-19. That’s almost one doctor for every refugee locked up (1,440).
Institutions of this sort are now highly dangerous places to be.
And, by the way, the States should release those locked up in remand and in prison who pose no risk to the community and who have accommodation, especially women and Aboriginal people. The latter make up a quarter of the prison population and are just 2% of the total population.
There are around 43,000 people now in prison in Australia, according to the ABS. This is 9,000 more than in 2014 thanks to zealous policing and sentencing and despite crime rates going down – The Guardian.
Overcrowding is serious.