Sixty years ago, at a time of optimism and compassion in the aftermath of the second world war, the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was created to protect people seeking asylum. And in this spirit at the same time the Refugee Council was set up.

Every country has its dark places, some darker than others, and in greater contrast to the tourist’s appreciation of the beauty of the landscape and graciousness of the people. The dark places in Greece, darker than any tourist would know, are revealed in two horrifying reports published in March. One is by Manuel Nowak, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, exposing the rot at the heart of the Greek government’s treatment of so called ‘irregular migrants’.

In September 2010, detainees at the Darwin immigration detention centre in Australia’s Northern Territory mounted two separate series of protests. The first involved a group of Indonesian nationals under investigation for ‘people-smuggling’ offences and seeking to return to Indonesia. Mostly, those involved were fishing boat crew members who had been detained for up to one year while the Australian Federal Police and prosecution authorities decided whether to proceed with criminal charges. If that happens and the detainees are ultimately convicted, they face grossly disproportionate mandatory prison sentences of at least five years. The second protests involved Afghan asylum seekers, who had originally been detained on Christmas Island, 1200 kilometres off Australia’s north west coast, after seeking entry to Australia by boat. Frustrated about the delays in processing their claims and fearful of being returned to the danger and chaos of occupied Afghanistan, a group of them managed to break out of the centre and engage in a peaceful sit-down protest across the road from the main entrance. In both cases, the authorities condemned the protests and threatened those involved with criminal charges. Some of the Afghans were also forcibly moved to another remote detention centre on Australia’s north west coast.