Villawood Immigration Detention Centre

Villawood Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) is an Australian immigration detention facility located in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney, Australia. It mainly caters for people who have overstayed their visa permit or those who had their visa cancelled because they have failed to comply with their visa conditions, and some adult male Illegal Maritime Arrivals. People refused entry into the country at international airports and seaports may also be detained there.

The centre has been the focus of much controversy, with accusations of human rights abuses. As of April 2016 it was managed by a private prison company Serco Group.

The site of the Detention Centre was previously known as the Villawood Migrant Hostel, built in 1949 to house migrants from post-war Europe to work in local industries. The centre was run by Commonwealth Hostels Ltd, a non-profit company. By 1964 the centre housed 1,425 people, mainly from Britain and Europe. By 1969 it was the largest migrant hostel in Australia, and was at that time housing migrants from Britain, The Netherlands, Denmark, West Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Turkey. In 1968 the centre was divided into two sections, one named the Villawood Migrant Hostel and the other named the Westbridge Migrant Hostel, which operated until 1984.

In 1976 a small section of the hostel was converted to provide security accommodation for persons awaiting deportation. This new section was named the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre.

In 2001 the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre was the subject of controversy when 40 asylum seekers escaped. A month later, a Four Corners documentary, "The Inside Story", revealed the plight of six-year-old Iranian refugee Shayan Bedraie, who had been refusing to speak or eat. Shayan and his family had been detained at Woomera IRPC for 11 months and Villawood IDC for at least 6 months, and had witnessed a number of riots and self-harm incidents. He was periodically taken to hospital to be drip-fed and rehydrated, and then returned to detention.

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