Fed: Recreational activities take detainees' minds off escape
SYDNEY, Dec 17 AAP - Recreational facilities costing about $2 million a week wouldhelp stop escapes from detention centres, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said today.
The Daily Telegraph today published information from an Immigration Department documentthat showed the government was spending the money on recreational activities and resourcesin the centres.
Mr Ruddock said providing resources such as DVD players, pay television and classesin yoga, cooking and driver education would take the asylum seekers' minds off escape.
"The range of activities that people are involved in is also important for ensuringthat people are occupied," he told reporters in Sydney.
"One of the problems you have if people are not occupied is that very often their thoughtsmay turn to other things such as escape and perhaps damage to property and the like."
He said detention centres were also not designed to punish asylum seekers and thereforedid not need to be like a prison.
"Detention policy is always for a purpose; it's for processing, it's ensuring thatpeople are available if that is required and in that sense it is not intended to be punitive,"
Mr Ruddock said.
"Our purpose has always been to detain people humanely and the level of amenity isnecessary for that humane detention."
AAP klw/was/br ,
KEYWORD: DETENTION RUDDOCK
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