Hawzah News Agency - (Brisbane - Australia) - Muslim immigration detainees in Brisbane have filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission saying they have not been given certified halal food for more than 12 months.
They are among more than 100 men detained in a Kangaroo Point hotel after they were evacuated from Nauru and Papua New Guinea for medical reasons.
Many of the Kangaroo Point refugees and asylum seekers are Muslims who eat halal food.
"After research and investigation we find out the food has been provided by Serco is not halal food and this is from the beginning when we arrive in Brisbane,” said Iranian detainee Amin Afrid.
Detainees challenged the guards to show them halal certification and contacted the caterers who are providing the food to Serco, the company responsible for operating the facility.
The caterers replied that they were not halal certified.
Serco subsequently confirmed to the detainees the current and previous caterers were “not halal certified” but “purchase meat from halal-certified suppliers”.
Serco’s contract with Home Affairs - obtained under Freedom of Information laws - said it “must prepare food for detainees of Islamic faith which meets the requirements of halal meals by sourcing produce certified as halal by a recognised halal food certification organisation”.
Serco declined to comment and referred enquiries to Home Affairs, which in a statement to SBS said “compliance with the contract is regularly monitored”.
The department did not say whether monitoring had identified any breaches.
"My understanding is that they are not following that particular clause of the contract because these two source companies are not halal-certified,” said Ali Kadri, spokesman for the state’s peak Muslim body and main halal certifier, the Islamic Council of Queensland.
“So it’s irrelevant where these companies are sourcing their food from, because their processes, their procedures, the other ingredients they use do not have assurances.
“We are doing enough injustice to them by locking them up without a crime for such a long period of time and if we can’t even provide them, meet their dietary requirements, it's a really horrible form of mental torture.”