TEACHERS and parents today criticised the Immigration Department for taking the children of suspected visa overstayers from their schools. It was cruel and inhumane that students as young as six had been taken from their Sydney schoolyards in the past fortnight because their parents were apparently in Australia illegally, the NSW Teachers Federation said.The Immigration Department has confirmed the raids but so far has refused to say more. The federation said it was investigating up to seven instances across Sydney in the past fortnight in which students from Stanmore, Kogarah and Chester Hill schools and an unnamed Seventh-Day Adventist school were detained in Villawood detention centre. Federation senior vice president Angelo Gavrielatos today called on the Federal Government to end the cruel policy. "We are shocked and appalled at the events of the last week or two which have seen officials from the Department of Immigration enter our schools and remove children from schools," Mr Gavrielatos said. "This is an absolute outrage, it has shocked us all. We call on the government to end the cruelty ... and observe the basic rights that these children have." NSW Parents and Citizens Federation Sharryn Brownlee said parents were horrified at what had happened and children had been traumatised. "The impact on these young children's lives will remain with them forever," Ms Brownlee said.
lol, they look pretty happy on the bus
The NSW Opposition justice spokesman Andrew Tink today refused to comment on the Coalition's decision to reveal details of the police operation. "I'm not going to go back over old ground, I'm not going to traverse matters that have already been dealt with," Mr Tink said.