Serco extends controversial Australian migrant detention centre contract
Outsourcer Serco will continue running Australian immigration detention centres for the next two years, after the country’s government extended the controversial contract which has already run for a decade.
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The agreement means Serco will continue running a divisive facility on Christmas Island, an Australian overseas territory which is 220 miles off the coast of Indonesia.
The detention centre closed in 2018 after concerns over harsh treatment of migrants on the island, but opened again earlier this year in a bid to curtail the human trafficking trade.
Serco did not reveal how much Australia will pay it for the contract, but said it will run until 10 December 2021. Serco and Australia’s home affairs department will now enter talks to thrash out the final terms of the extension.
The company will provide accommodation, transport and escort, access control, induction, welfare, education, programs and activities, catering, incident management, and property and facilities management across Australia’s network of detention centres.
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It said: “Serco provide services to the onshore immigration detention network in Australian states and territories, including Christmas Island.”