Getting to the heart of the Rau case

BY REBECCA ZHOU
Cornelia Rau disappeared from the psychiatric wing at Manly Hospital four years ago. A week later she was found hitchhiking in a small town on the Cape York Peninsula.  She was then handed over to the Queensland Police, thus beginning one of the most appalling scandals in Australian history.
A German native, Cornelia Rau was shuffled around prisons and detention centres for 10 months while the Department of Immigration searched for the necessary evidence to deport her. The ensuing investigation revealed the machinations of a deeply flawed system. 
Discussing the case at Glebe’s Cafe Church next week are retired ABC journalist of 35 years, John Highfield, and Professor Linda Briskman. The event will be hosted by Kate Gauthier from the national campaign organisation, A Just Australia.
The group will look at the inquiry which followed after the federal government’s refusal to conduct an investigation. That investigation became known as The People’s Inquiry into Detention and details the harrowing stories of detainees; their asylum-seeking journeys, lives behind the wire fences and the processes which led to their detention.
It is a potent indictment of the buried realities of the Australian bureaucracy, both in its often callous ignorance and incompetence.
The inquiry came after a recent government announcement to amend the mandatory detention scheme and serves to justify the need to review this country’s contentious refugee policy.
“Human Rights Overboard traces the trajectory of the development of Australia’s refugee policy from the beginning of the Howard government to the current administration,” Professor Briskman said.  
“It has softened, but we still have huge facilities on Christmas Island that a lot of people would love to see torn down. There is still a long way to go.”
The panel will also be a launch of the book Human Rights Overboard, co-written by Professor Briskman, in which the oral and written testimonies from more than 200 witnesses and expert insiders were compiled. The book contains the voices of former and current immigration detainees, refugee advocates, lawyers, doctors, psychiatrists and former detention and immigration staff. 
“It will shake a lot of people,” Professor Briskman said. “The direct quotations and shocking personal stories of asylum seekers really show the realities of detention and its impacts.”
‘    The Human Rights Overboard panel discussion will be held on Tuesday November 11 from 7pm at Cafe Church in Glebe