Inside the mouse-infested detention center where inmates claim to have been forced to share beds with vermin
- WA detention center ‘mice infected’
- Video shows mice in beds and food eaten
- ABF denies facility reports
An immigration center has been overrun with mice infesting bedding and kitchens and sickening inmates, horror video made at the facility shows.
Detainees at the Yongah Hill Detention Center (YHIDC), located east of Perth, are protesting their ‘inhumane’ living conditions where they say mice run through their beds and nibble on their food.
Hugo Dimitri, whose name has been changed, said he was shocked when he arrived at the center to see mice “walking across the room, going over my bags and stuff.”
“I have spoken to many inmates and they have all confirmed that this mouse invasion problem has been going on for over a year,” he told 7News.
“All (have) complained to the guards and officers, but nothing has been done.”
Video released last year showing a mouse scrambling into a sink at WA’s Yongah Hill Detention Center
Video released last August shows a mouse scrambling into a stainless steel sink in the detention center.
Other videos and images reportedly show food packages and clothes with holes in them, mice in the toaster, in the bedroom, bathrooms and outdoor areas.
Dimitri claimed that nothing has been done to solve the problem, despite numerous complaints about detainees falling ill.
“When I talked to the people in charge, they laughed, they said, ‘This is normal here,'” Dimitri said.
“They promise, promise, but in the end they do nothing.” it was aware of detainee reports but denied any rodent infestation.”
Detainees have protested living conditions they say are so contagious with mice it makes them sick
The Australian Border Force, which is responsible for the facility, said it was ‘aware’ of mice at the center but denied it was an ‘infestation’.
“When pests are reported in Immigrant Detention Centers (IDFs), immediate action is taken to ensure they are removed within a reasonable time frame, as has been done on this occasion,” the spokesperson said without specifying what action was taken.
Dimitri called conditions at the center “unhumane” for the 254 people held there.
The detention center is one of many such facilities in Australia that holds people who have overstayed, had their visas denied or violated, and those who have arrived without a visa.