1) Chris Cummins has spent 5 years working as a trauma counsellor for asylum seekers detained on Christmas Island. She aims to humanize the asylum seekers and share their stories in order to effect policy change. 2) One family she worked with, the Kumars from Sri Lanka, fled civil war and lost two young children. They endured immense suffering but were later deported from Christmas Island despite being refugees. 3) Detention exacerbates trauma symptoms for many asylum seekers. The overcrowded Christmas Island center, which is run like a prison, is not conducive to healing from torture and trauma. Chris advocates for transferring detainees to the Australian mainland for treatment and

1. Saturday, May 2,2015
oweekender FEATURE bendigoadvertiser.com.au
HOPE: Chris
Cummins believes
things will change
for asylum seekers.
Picture:
JIMALDERSEY

2. BEKING AJOHN HOLTON speaks withtrauma
counsellor Chris Cummins about her work
with asylum seekers on Christmas Island.
W
HEN Chris Cummins
tells people she's spent
the last five years as
a torture and trauma
counsellor working with asylum
seekers on Christmas Island, they're
naturally intrigued.
As she says, it's a natural human
response to be interested in storiesof
human suffering.
Chris has chosen to speak out
about her experiences - not to dwell
on the horrors and grief that so many
detainees have endured, but instead to
"re-humanise the demonised"
"Asylum seekers are constantly
wearing negative labels," Chris says.
"Illegals, queue-jumpers, boat-people -
their value as people is diminished.
"The only waywe can effect change is
to hear their stories."
Chris's workas a mental health
nurse has taken her to far-flung places,
advocating for the mostvulnerable.
Shewas a volunteer nurse in SriLanka
for 12months, worked with Afghan
refugees in Iran, and has spent time in
remote Aboriginal communities in the
Kimberley.
Chris jumped at the opportunity
to work on ChristmasIsland, though
nothing could have prepared her for the
depth of suffering or the level of trauma
experienced by detainees.
Around the time ofher arrival,a
boat of Tamil refugees arrived from
Sri Lanka,seeking sanctuary from the
30-year civilwar. The tragic story of the
Kumar family is still hard for Chris to
relate, even after five years.
"Joseph and Lavinia were a young
couple travellingwith their 10-year-old
daughter, Sylvia,"Chris recalls. "In2009,
the SriLankanmilitaryhad attacked
their refugee camprepeatedly.
"Caught in the middle ofthe shelling,
the Kumars'two youngest children,
Mary and Michael, were killed.
"Joseph and Laviniawere forced to
leave the bodies oftheir children lying
beside countless others, later to be
buried in a massgrave.
"The couple both suffered serious
injuries themselves and spent sixweeks
apart at different hospitals. Eventually
they were reunited in a camp hospital
and were offered assistance by the
husband of another patient."
The Kumars' story is horrific, though
not uncommon. Theywere forced
into hiding in Colombo, sold all their
possessions to buy passports, evaded
IN LIMBO:A young asylum seeker in detention.
Picture: CONTRIBUTED
For many people with an
exposure to torture and
trauma, detention just
heightens their symptoms.
Chris Cummins
the SriLankanArmy and spent six
months as refugees in India, before
spending 24 days at sea in an attempt
to reach Australia - the final three of
those without any food or water.They
survived, only to end up at Christmas
Island. "By far the greatest heartbreak
for this family was the graphic memory
of their children's bodies left behind,"
Chris says. "Joseph and Lavinia's
physical wounds had healed but the
sadnesswas overwhelming.
"Asthe Kumars were devout
Catholics, I arranged a memorial
service at the local church, and a
second one in the detention centre
where many more Tamils could attend.
"They had a photo ofMary and
Michael and I copied this onto a
memorial card with an appropriate
prayer. Each person who attended was
given the memorial card as they would
have done at home in SriLanka.
"For the Kumars it was an opportu-
nity to mourn, to reflect on the great
sadness they had endured, and to open
a pathway to healing."
Not long after, the family was
transferred to Darwin, but were refused
asylum and forcibly deported.
"The Kumarsweren't breaking any
laws," Chris says. "Itwasn't illegal for
them to seek sanctuary - they weren't
jumping a queue. Theywere just
desperate peoplefleeingterror."
The Christmas Island Immigration
Detention Centre was opened in 2008
and originallybuilt to accommodate

3. Saturday, May 2,2015
b6ndigo8dv6itis6r.com.au
weekenderEP
1 1 ' M Ulnnri Imminrntinn Dotnntinn Cantrn Picture: CONTRIBUTED

4. WITHOUTFE400 people. Chris describes it as "very
much like a prison" with high-level
security and CCTV monitoring. Indeed
the British company that owns and
operates the centre, Serco, operates
prisons throughout Europe and
Australia. The centre quicklygrew to
accommodate 800, then to over 2000 by
converting class rooms and visitor areas
into dorms. ByChris's final year on the
island it was bursting at the seams with
almost 4000 detainees - yet only four
torture and trauma counsellors.
Chris describes the trauma
experienced by many detainees as
"complex" They commonly include
intrusive memories and horrific
nightmares, with people often
frightened to fall asleep. Grown men
experience bed-wetting as a symptom
of post-traumatic stress disorder.
"For many people with an exposure
to torture and trauma, detention just
heightens their symptoms," Chris
explains. "Christmas Island is definitely
not a place to heal."
For these clients the team would
advocate, using their clinical findings,
to the Department ofImmigration.
The process, as Chris explains, was
incredibly frustrating. "Eachweek I'd
present the cases, appealing for people
to be transferred into community
detention on the mainland. When Iwas
successful I could link the client into
ongoing counselling, but such wins
were few and far between. It became
even harder after the introductionof
the NoAdvantagepolicy in 2012, when
it was made blatantly clear there would
be no access to Australia ifyou arrived
by boat." Amid the heartache, there
were small moments ofjoywhen Chris
could have temporary guardianship
of a detainee and do something really
special for them.
One such person was Mohammad,
a 31-year-old Sudanese man who had
survived arrest and torture before
leaving his parents, siblings, wife and
two children in a refugee camp in
Darfur to seek asylum in Australia.
"Mohammad had vivid traumatic
memories and lived with the
uncertainty of his family's safety back
in Darfur. In our counselling sessions
he literally couldn't remember a happy
day in his entire life. I took Mohammad
and an interpreter out for the day.I
prepared some lovely food, packed real
cutlery and crockery - a table cloth for
a picnic. Wedrove around the island,
walked in the jungle, and ended up at
a lookout. Aswe gazed across the sea,
Mohammad smiled and said, 'This
is the happiest day of my life; this is
happiness!'
Despite the enormity ofthe issue,
Chris believes things can, and will
change for asylum seekers. "Wehave to
keep lobbying ourpolicy makers -we
have to jump up and down and make
lots of noise. People seeking asylum
are no different to you and I. They love
their families, they feel pain. They
deserve a life free of fear."
,„,,—,
SPRAWLING: The Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre. Picture: CONTRIBUTED