Doctors Without Borders: Situation of Refugees in Nauru is Extremely Bad
As concerns increase and alarming reports emerge regarding the situation of refugees that Australia has sent to camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, “Doctors Without Borders” states that the mental health of many people in Nauru is “extremely bad” and “inhumane”.
In a report titled “Endless Hopelessness” published by the Doctors Without Borders organization on Monday, December 3rd, it is stated that 60 percent of those whom doctors have treated in Nauru “have suicidal thoughts” and 30 percent of them have attempted suicide.
Doctors Without Borders says that among those who have attempted suicide, children as young as 9 years old have been observed.
According to this transnational humanitarian organization, doctors and aid workers in Nauru’s detention facilities have witnessed one of the worst human conditions in the world; “even considering the assistance this organization has provided to torture victims.”
However, the Nauru government has forced this organization to leave the island; according to the organization, aid workers provided assistance from November 2017 to October 2018 to Nauru citizens and refugees that Australia had sent to the island’s detention facilities.
Doctors Without Borders say that the Nauru government suddenly announced on October 5th “you are no longer needed” and forced aid workers to leave the island within 24 hours.
The organization states that doctors and aid workers were forced to abandon “hundreds of patients who needed immediate assistance” and leave.
The expulsion of aid workers from Nauru occurs at a time when this organization had requested in September that the Australian government immediately remove refugees, particularly children, from Nauru.
Recent warnings by Doctors Without Borders regarding the situation of refugees that Australia sends to Pacific islands are not, however, the first of their kind; rather, it is a recent report from activists and monitoring organizations that have all expressed concern about the conditions of families, children, and others in detention.
The United Nations requested in September that the Australian government immediately evacuate and close its refugee detention camps on islands away from Australian soil.
Shortly after, the Australian Medical Association warned about the condition of children in refugee camps in Nauru and said that the fact that none of them have yet lost their lives is “a miracle.”
Amnesty International in November asked Australian politicians to immediately take action to transfer 1,287 men, women, and children who are in camps in Nauru and Papua.
Nevertheless, it does not appear that any of these warnings have had much impact on the Australian government’s policies. Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, emphasized in late summer “I will not take any action that would jeopardize the policies protecting Australia’s borders.” These statements mean that the Australian government is not willing to change its policies on not accepting any boat refugees on its own soil and continues to keep them outside its borders.
According to statistics from “Australia’s Refugee Council” as of last summer, the total number of refugees in both Nauru and Papua regions was estimated at 1,655 people. It is reported that a total of 3,127 people were sent to these two countries during the agreements between Australia, Nauru, and Papua, many of whom were Iranian; of these, at least 855 people “voluntarily” left the islands, with the majority of them having returned to their home countries.
Source: Radio Farda
