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MYTH 8 - There is no Alternative to Mandatory Detention Fact: Asylum seekers claims need to be assessed for legitimacy. Australia is the only Western country that mandatorily detains asylum seekers whilst their claims are being heard. Asylum seekers are not criminals and detention should be minimal. At a cost of $104 a day per head the policy of detention is very expensive. Community based alternatives to mandatory detention can be found internationally and within the current Australian parole system. A select Committee of the NSW Parliament has costed alternatives to incarceration including home detention and transitional housing. The average cost of community based programs are (per person, per day): Parole: $5.39. Probation: $3.94. Home Detention: $58.83. These options are clearly more economically efficient, and much more humane. Sweden receives similar numbers of asylum seekers as Australia,
despite having less than half the population. Detention is only
used to establish a persons identity and to conduct criminal screening.
Most detainees are released within a very short time, particularly
if they have relatives or friends living in Sweden. Of the 17,000
asylum seekers currently in Sweden 10,000 reside outside the detention
centres. Children are only detained for the minimum possible time
(a maximum of 6 days).
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