A woman who was captured by a remote-controlled camera while working in the bush on the South Island has been hailed a hero for exposing the cruelty of Australia’s immigration detention system.
Key points:Kiwi photographer Mia Aitken took photos of a woman who she believed was pregnant in a prison in Manly, Queensland, and posted them on Facebook, prompting the Australian Government to announce a crackdown on women’s rights in detentionAuckland-based photographer Mia was a victim of Australia-wide child abuse, but her story was turned into a story of human rightsWhen she was first approached by an immigration officer at a detention centre in Manus Island, New Zealand, she knew she had to help.
Ms Aitker took the photos in December last year, along with two colleagues who were working with her, after she noticed the woman’s eyes were blue.
She then went to the detention centre and made her own video.
“I wanted to tell the truth about what happened to me and the abuse and violence in detention,” she said.
“The detention centre was a war zone, a war prison.
People were being beaten, starved and locked up in filthy conditions.”
People had no clothes, no food, no water and it was very cold.
“The video went viral and Ms Aitkin said it changed her perspective on life in Australia’s offshore detention centres.”
What happened to my family was something that was totally out of the blue,” she told news.com