Australia’s Gitmo

For those of you who don’t know, there was a site in Australia known as Woomera where refugees were detained. While technically not like Gitmo, it was where refugees, predominantly Muslim, were held without legal recourse or appeal until they could be deported. They were not given a hearing to determine their status, they were simply locked up. Condition at one point had gotten so bad, the prisoners sewed their mouths shut. Because of all the bad press, the center was shut down, but the practice continues, and Woomera has become symbolic of the racist policies of John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia.

There is now a company making a game called Escape from Woomera to highlight the injustices of the situation. The idea of using a game as a means to raise social conscious is a fabulous one. The link above outlines their work and their philosophy, and supplies a lot of background material.