Refugee Update - Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Nauru
Indonesia's president-elect Joko Widodo has told our PM it's unacceptable for the Australian navy to enter Indonesian waters when turning back asylum seeker boats. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison retorted that Indonesia has benefitted from the turnbacks, as they have stopped people-smuggling, which the haven't. Neither country mentioned the thousands of refugees and asylum seekers trapped in Indonesia.
Seven months after the attacks on asylum seekers at the Manus Island detention centre, 87 detainees still await medical treatment which cannot be provided at the camp, including a man with bullet fragments in his back. The delay in providing medical attention inside and outside the detention centre cost Hamid Khazaei his life. Conditions at the camp are filthy, contributing to detainee's poor health; skin infections are routine.
Gay asylum seekers at Manus who fled persecution in Iran fear resettlement in Papua New Guinea, where homosexuality can be punished with more than ten years in jail. They are also experiencing bullying within the camp.
Manus Island's local government has halted construction of new facilities at the detention centre and is threatening to close the centre unless the billion-dollar assistance package is renegotiated, citing issues such as the large difference in salaries for local and imported staff at the camp.
In September, hard drives were stolen from the Nauru detention centre's offices. Nothing had been done to secure the drives. The private information therein is potentially extremely dangerous to detainees, containing asylum seekers' case information and records of complaints against staff at the camp, including reports of physical and sexual assaults on children and women. The government alleges Save the Children workers fabricated the reports. Detainees were shown a video of Tony Abbott telling them they would not be settled in Australia; the subsequent outbreak of self-harm and suicide attempts were attributed by the government to coaching by STC.
The detention centre on Nauru lacks adequate water for washing and laundry due to a breakdown in equipment. (Thankfully, drinking water is supplied in bottles.) Requests by asylum seekers for basic necessities including clothing, mosquito nets, children's shoes, and sanitary napkins largely go unmet.
Nauru itself may shortly run out of money.
Seven months after the attacks on asylum seekers at the Manus Island detention centre, 87 detainees still await medical treatment which cannot be provided at the camp, including a man with bullet fragments in his back. The delay in providing medical attention inside and outside the detention centre cost Hamid Khazaei his life. Conditions at the camp are filthy, contributing to detainee's poor health; skin infections are routine.
Gay asylum seekers at Manus who fled persecution in Iran fear resettlement in Papua New Guinea, where homosexuality can be punished with more than ten years in jail. They are also experiencing bullying within the camp.
Manus Island's local government has halted construction of new facilities at the detention centre and is threatening to close the centre unless the billion-dollar assistance package is renegotiated, citing issues such as the large difference in salaries for local and imported staff at the camp.
In September, hard drives were stolen from the Nauru detention centre's offices. Nothing had been done to secure the drives. The private information therein is potentially extremely dangerous to detainees, containing asylum seekers' case information and records of complaints against staff at the camp, including reports of physical and sexual assaults on children and women. The government alleges Save the Children workers fabricated the reports. Detainees were shown a video of Tony Abbott telling them they would not be settled in Australia; the subsequent outbreak of self-harm and suicide attempts were attributed by the government to coaching by STC.
The detention centre on Nauru lacks adequate water for washing and laundry due to a breakdown in equipment. (Thankfully, drinking water is supplied in bottles.) Requests by asylum seekers for basic necessities including clothing, mosquito nets, children's shoes, and sanitary napkins largely go unmet.
Nauru itself may shortly run out of money.