To Set Fire to the Sea

To Set Fire to the Sea explores the Australian Government's policy of mandatory and indefinite detention for asylum seekers.

These stories are fragments from the ongoing life and conversations with friends who are in detention centres, have been 'released' into community detention, or have temporary asylum in Australia.

© Sinead Kennedy - Signage for Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre removed and painted over, though the centre is still in operation.
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Signage for Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre removed and painted over, though the centre is still in operation.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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Visitors to detention centres are given a numbered wristband upon entry. This is reminiscent of how codes are used throughout the detention system. Asylum seekers who arrived by boat were given a boat number for identification purposes, and detention centre staff have been known to call asylum seekers by this number, instead of their actual names. As a result, children have also begun to use this code as their name.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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Moorthy was in detention for over five years. He would joke about his nickname being ‘More Tea’ as he would always make everyone tea during visits. We estimated that he made 21,840 cups of tea in his time in detention.

© Sinead Kennedy - Paari spent the first years of his life inside Villawood detention centre. For his third birthday he wanted a key.
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Paari spent the first years of his life inside Villawood detention centre. For his third birthday he wanted a key.

© Sinead Kennedy - Visits were especially quiet during Ramadan. People were too tired and too sad to come to visits.
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Visits were especially quiet during Ramadan. People were too tired and too sad to come to visits.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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A counsellor in a Perth detention centre would tell people to blow up a balloon, and when it burst, he would say to them, ‘this is life.’

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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'This is how tired we are, this action will prove how exhausted we are. I cannot take it anymore.’ Omid Masoumali, a 23 year old man from Iran, had been living in an Australian run detention centre on Nauru for three years. On 26 April 2016, during a visit from UN Officials, he set himself on fire. It was two hours before he received medical attention and eight hours before he received morphine. It was 24 hours before he was airlifted to Australia. He died two days later in a hospital in Brisbane.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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Ismail and I laugh about his ordeals sharing bunk beds; heavy roommates and wobbly frames, loud snorers and hitting his head on the ceiling when he wakes up. Times when Ismail’s roommates woke him up because he was crying in his sleep.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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Nima and I are the same age. He has four qualifications and likes to play the violin. The first time we met, he had our whole table entertained with magic tricks. He has been in detention for five years. His processing began last November.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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Ismail used to have beautiful hair. He says his appearance has completely changed in his four years in detention. Stress has diminished his appetite and he now takes medication to sustain his energy. Today Ismail eats just two slices of toast a day.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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Rujul’s old towel hanger. In August 2017, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection introduced a new visa called Final Departure Bridging Visa E. This new visa applied to those in community detention who had been brought to Australia from offshore centres for medical treatment. Within three weeks of the announcement welfare ceased and people were evicted from community housing. They were required to find a job, a place to live, and make arrangements to return to offshore detention or their home country within six months, by 28th February. Rujul was so worried in the lead up to this date he couldn’t eat or sleep. On February 28th, people on this visa were called into the Immigration office. They were again put on the six month Final Departure Bridging Visa E. Rujul said he was relieved, but knew this relief was only temporary.

© Sinead Kennedy - Guards in some detention centres are required to carry a Hoffman knife. These are used to cut down detainees found hanging.
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Guards in some detention centres are required to carry a Hoffman knife. These are used to cut down detainees found hanging.

© Sinead Kennedy - Rujul and his son, Deeran, first met when Deeran was four. They were able to spend thirteen days together.
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Rujul and his son, Deeran, first met when Deeran was four. They were able to spend thirteen days together.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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In detention centres, lighters are built into poles in communal areas for security reasons. Occasionally Maj would find himself with his own handheld lighter. He said that this was freedom.

© Sinead Kennedy - Image from the To Set Fire to the Sea photography project
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When I first started visiting Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation, the visiting room was always lively and full of people. People would write their names and contact details on scraps of paper for you to visit again and keep in touch in the meantime.

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