Lives at risk in PNG and Nauru as Labor persists with 11 failed years of offshore detention

MEDIA RELEASE:

A damning, exclusive health report released today by the ASRC serves as further evidence the Australian Government’s offshore detention policy has been 11 years of costly cruelty which continues to put people’s lives and health at risk.

The report details distressing case studies and health statistics of 47 refugees held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and 96 people now held on Nauru. Read the full report here.

Supported by medical testimony and ASRC’s specialist detention casework insights,  Cruelty by Design:The health crisis in offshore detention documents the legacy of preventable deaths, medical neglect and countless human rights abuses that have occurred offshore and the urgent need to medically evacuate those remaining.

ASRC’s health audit reveals shocking health trends:

• 20% of refugees in PNG are so unwell their lives are at imminent risk
• 100% of the refugees in PNG, and 65% of people held in Nauru suffer physical health conditions
• 88% of the refugees in PNG, and 22% of people held in Nauru suffer severe mental health conditions
• 100% of people in PNG reported difficulty accessing medical care, including being declined care, and being asked to pay for care when they have no financial support
• 60% of people in Nauru reported concerns with the limited healthcare available in Nauru
• 100% of people detained in Nauru and in PNG have reported experiences of trauma (including persecution, the journey to seek asylum by sea, family separation, medical trauma, experiences of violence in detention)
• 40% of the refugees in PNG suffer chronic suicidal ideation and a history of suicide attempts, and
• 10% of people held in Nauru experience suicidal ideation.

Over the past 11 years, ASRC’s Detention Rights Advocacy Program (DRAP) has submitted more than 400 risk notifications regarding people held in offshore detention to government officials and offshore medical providers, detailing critical incidents of medical neglect, self-harm, suicidality and severe and deteriorating physical and mental health conditions requiring urgent treatment. 

Despite this overwhelming evidence, and countless reports and recommendations from respected medical bodies, humanitarian organisations and the lived experience of refugees and people seeking asylum, successive Governments have continued to prop up the brutal offshore regime at a cost of over $12 billion since July 2012.

A health crisis is now mounting in PNG and Nauru under the watch of the Albanese Government, and experts are clear that Labor needs to act now to evacuate all people held offshore to ensure  their safety while their protection claims are processed and resettlement is prioritised.

Quotes attributable to:

Professor Suresh Sundram, Head of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University
“I am very concerned about the health of the PNG cohort. Many of these are people who are now too mentally unwell to be able to actively participate in decision making about their futures, there is no monitoring of their health status, and PNG is a lower middle income country with constrained health resources to manage highly complex patients.”

“The rates of mental and physical illness in people who were held offshore are higher than observed in comparable onshore populations and markedly higher than mainstream populations. This includes extremely high rates of mental disorders such as major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The lack of access to appropriate specialist health care and medicines perpetuates illness as  does psychosocial disadvantage and poverty.”

Thanush Selvarasa, human rights activist and refugee previously held in Manus Island (PNG)
“Today is the 11th year of the devastating July 19 policy. This policy has destroyed our lives and made so many people suffer. I can’t see any humanity in this policy, only brutality. When I was in the Manus Island centre, we didn’t have a medical facility, this is why I needed to get to Australia. But now, if people need a medical facility, they can’t get to Australia under the Medevac law.

“Mentally and physically, I’m still very tired. I didn’t see any humanity for many years. Our visa is only six months, and each time we need to renew it. We can’t get a permanent job. We’ve been separated from our family. This is a real pain in my heart. I know how bad it was in PNG. I was one of them. It’s really hard to live there.”

Dr Nilanthy Vigneswaran, Infectious Diseases Doctor
“New reports of transfers of individuals to Nauru in recent months raise alarms that successive governments have committed to a continuation of offshore detention that puts people’s health at risk. The 11-year history of medical neglect, trauma and human rights abuses as a direct result of Australia’s offshore processing policy is clear evidence that decisions regarding medical care should be in the hands of medical professionals.”

“It is a testament to how far Australia has fallen, that despite more than a decade of evidence of the harms inflicted on human beings detained in offshore detention facilities, these immigration policies endure.”

Behrouz Boochani, Author, Journalist and refugee formerly held on Manus Island
”Australia has banished people to Manus Island and then to Port Moresby, subjecting them to systematic torture for more than a decade. Australia cannot get away from what it has done to them and obviously is responsible for this tragedy. These people are our friends, and we know how much they have suffered. The only thing I can say is that it is enough – they should be evacuated now to receive medical treatment and support to start a new life.”

Betelhem Tibebu, human rights activist and refugee formerly held in Nauru
“11 years ago I  was locked up in Nauru and it made me sick. No privacy, no safety, I could not see my family or see any hope for the future.  It is not possible to be healthy when the place you are in causes you to be sick.

“I was then evacuated to Brisbane where I  was locked up again in detention for two more years. Locked up with my sickness and pain and separated from my family. Now I am still not free, and I am still in Australia waiting. I still can’t see my family, I can’t study, it is hard to find work as we have to renew our visas every three to six months. It is too much.” 

Jana Favero, ASRC’s Head of Systemic Change
“This is a man-made health crisis. Successive governments have turned their back on people who sought our safety and for 11 years have been left to languish in PNG. And now, the Albanese Government is knowingly transferring people to Nauru where there’s a history of appalling access to healthcare, deaths and sexual assault.

“There are many people in the ALP who were happy to support medical evacuations and call out the insufficient medical facilities on Nauru and demand answers while they were in opposition, but now they are in Government it’s a different story.  The solution is simple and there is an opportunity for the Albanese Government to end the harm by immediately evacuating people to Australia. The time for change is now and people’s lives depend on it.”

-ENDS-