Armidale obstetrician Dr Jyoti Chaku is one of thousands of doctors across Australia calling for the government to bring the dozen remaining refugee children off Nauru.
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“It's shocking that we still have not supported these people to get off Nauru,” Dr Chaku said. “They've undergone such atrocities.”
Children as young as ten have attempted suicide, doused themselves in petrol, and become catatonic, reports say. They were unable to eat, drink, or talk; and had lost the will to live.
The government has brought some children and their families to Australia for medical treatment, but their future remains uncertain.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that they will be returned to the countries whence they fled, rather than be resettled here. He believes letting them stay in Australia could encourage more refugees.
“It’s welcome news that the government has finally taken doctors’ orders and started removing children from offshore detention facilities,” Dr Chaku said.
“But one kid detained on Nauru is too many, and 12 remain.
“They need to be evacuated right now.
“No one should be detained in offshore detention indefinitely. Indefinite detention is causing these people to suffer tremendously, and causing terrible health impacts.”
Hundreds of people are still in detention, many with mental health problems. A dozen have died since 2013 as a result of medical neglect, taking their own life, or fatal assaults by guards.
“We are calling on the government to immediately remove all children and their families from Nauru immediately,” Dr Chaku said.
“The government must find a pathway to permanent settlement and citizenship for everyone in Australian offshore detention, as a priority.
“They need to put in place a proper medical process for everyone held on Manus and Nauru so they receive the medical care they need – and ensure that no children are ever detained in offshore detention again.
“Anything else is unacceptable to doctors in Australia.”
Refugee advocates will today present Mr Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten with a petition signed by some 17,000 people, calling for an end to the incarceration of children on the island.
“As a local community doctor,” Dr Chaku said, “I understand what kids need to be healthy and safe, and I simply can’t stand by while children are being detained in offshore detention, and slowly broken.
“Thousands of doctors from all over Australia have stood together and said enough is enough. These children are very sick as a result of being detained in offshore detention for as many as five years.”
In 2013, the Rudd government announced that asylum seekers arriving by boat would never be settled in Australia, but would be transferred indefinitely to detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island, funded by Australia.
World opinion has denounced the detention centres as violations of human rights; and the United Nations has declared vast numbers to be genuine refugees.
Although the Manus Island centre was closed in October last year, the Nauru centre is still open.
A report by the Refugee Council of Australia and Refugee Asylum Seeker Resource Centre found in September that the Australian government had blocked 50 overseas medical requests.
Doctors have condemned the Australian government’s incarceration policy.
Australian Medical Association president Dr Tony Bartone called the situation “a humanitarian emergency”.
He urged Mr Morrison to remove asylum seeker children and their families from Nauru as a matter of priority, and to let a delegation of Australian doctors assess the health of detainees on Nauru and Papua New Guinea. His plea was rejected.
The Nauruan government forced Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) out of the country in October, ending the group’s free medical care for both detainees and local Nauruans.
MSF said it had treated 78 refugee patients who attempted suicide, had suicidal thoughts, or inflicted self-harm.
Devastated children have lost all hope, Australia executive director Paul McPhun said.
Nearly 7000 doctors delivered an open letter to the government last month, calling for critically ill children and their families to be evacuated from Nauru.
The situation was, Drs Neela Janakiramanan and Sara Townend said, a medical emergency.
Dr Chaku urged all people around Armidale and the local area to support the campaign to get these people off Nauru.
“Hammer our local government, and our local, state, and federal politicians! Keep on biting them; keep putting the pressure on to get these people off.”