‘Humiliating’: lawyers decry Australia’s handcuffing of asylum seekers for court visits

‘The continued handcuffing of asylum seekers to attend minor civil court matters is “humiliating” and creates a barrier to accessing justice, lawyers say.’

‘The use of restraints on those in immigration detention has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks, after a landmark test case launched by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (Piac) argued that handcuffing detainees to attend medical appointments was illegal, inhumane, traumatising and created an unlawful barrier to healthcare.’

‘The overuse of restraints has already been criticised in reports by the commonwealth ombudsman and Australian Human Rights Commission.’