Inside the mice-infested detention centre where detainees claim they are forced to share beds with vermin
- WA detention centre ‘mice infested’
- Video shows mice in beds and eaten food
- ABF denies reports made over facility
An immigration centre has been over-run with mice that have infested bedding, kitchens and making detainees sick, horror video taken inside the facility shows.
Detainees at the Yongah Hill Detention Centre (YHIDC), located east of Perth, are protesting their ‘inhumane’ living conditions where they say mice scamper through their beds and nibble on their food.
Hugo Dimitri, whose name has been changed, said he was shocked to arrive at the centre and see mice ‘walking through the room, going over my bags and everything’.
‘I spoke with many inmates and (they) all confirmed that this problem with the mice invasion has persisted for more than a year,’ he told 7News.
‘All (have) complained to the guards and officers, but nothing has been done.’
Video that emerged last year showing a mouse scrambling in a sink at WA’s Yongah Hill Detention Centre
Video released last August shows a mouse scrambling in a stainless steel sink at the detention centre.
Other videos and images allegedly show food packets and clothing with holes in them, mice inside the toaster, in the bedroom, bathrooms and in outdoor areas.
Dimitri claimed nothing has been done to fix the issue despite numerous complaints about detainees becoming sick.
‘When I spoke with the people who are in charge, they were laughing, they said: ‘This is a normal thing here’,’ Dimitri said.
‘They are promising, promising, but in the end they don’t do nothing.’ it was aware of detainee reports, but denied there was a rodent infestation.’
Detainees have been protesting the living conditions that they say are so mouse-infested it is making them sic
The Australian Border Force, who is responsible for the facility said it was ‘aware’ of mice in the centre but denied it was an ‘infestation’.
‘When pests are reported in immigration detention facilities (IDFs), immediate action is taken to ensure their removal within a reasonable timeframe, as has been done on this occasion,’ the spokesperson said without specifying was actions were taken.
Dimitri called conditions at the centre ‘not humane’ for the 254 people held there.
The detention centre is one of a number such facilities around Australia which holds people who have overstayed, been denied or breached their visa and those who have arrived without one.
