Around this time last fall, I wrote a column examining the protests of the closure of a detention center on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Hundreds of refugees barricaded themselves in the detention center and called on the Australian government to finally address the migrant crisis they had ignored.
The international community advised Australia to take responsibility for the developing humanitarian crisis and do away with its strict policy of sending asylum seekers to offshore sites.
Earlier this month, Australia again graced international headlines due to a refugee crisis. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced controversial plans to send child refugees brought to Australia for medical attention back to an offshore processing center on the tiny island nation of Nauru.
For years, Nauru has been plagued with allegations of human rights abuses. Recent media reports have revealed life on the island is particularly dire for children, many of whom have spent the majority of their lives in detention.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Center reported at least 30 cases of children suffering from traumatic withdrawal syndrome, also known as resignation syndrome. As a response to severe trauma, sufferers of this rare psychiatric condition effectively withdraw from life.
In the worst cases, individuals become unresponsive, unable to speak and their bodies begin to shut down. Treatment for the deteriorating condition can take months and requires access to pediatric intensive care.
An awareness campaign, court orders and the threat of legal intervention have forced the Australian government to evacuate more than 200 sick children from Nauru over the past few years. In reports earlier this month, Morrison had announced plans to transfer all children off the island by the end of the year.
Morrison’s most recent statements distance himself from theses previous reports.
When questioned about why children would be sent back to the island, Morrison told Sky News, “that’s always been the case.”
While many are upset with announcements of the fate of refugee children on Nauru, refugees on Manus Island express disappointment for the lack of attention being directed at the medical crisis at their detention center.
More than 600 men are in indefinite detention on Manus. Many of these men are sick and awaiting transfer or medical intervention. Human rights activists have called the treatment of detainees on Manus abusive and inhumane.
Kurdish journalist and Manus Island refugee Behrouz Boochani reported seven refugees had attempted suicide over the last two weeks. The media attention and awareness campaigns surrounding the refugee children on Nauru have left the refugees on Manus feeling forgotten and ignored by the international community.
“The Kids off Nauru campaign has had a negative impact on the refugees on Manus Island, and I am sure has a negative impact on the adult people on Nauru, because people think that the refugees movement forget about them and they feel they are forgotten people,” Boochani said.
The overshadowing of any health or refugee crisis is a violation of human rights. The processes in place to tackle these issues are too slow to effectively address the overwhelming volume of mental and physical health problems experienced by refugees on Manus and Nauru.
In a statement, the Australian government insisted it “takes seriously its role in supporting the Government of Nauru to ensure that children are protected from abuse, neglect or exploitation.”
Human rights advocates around the world are unimpressed. Many feel the Australian government is more concerned about keeping people seeking asylum out of the country, rather than addressing the major health risks refugees are facing.
As Australia navigates refugee resettlement for the people of Nauru and Manus Islands, I can only hope this humanitarian crisis is addressed constructively and will not make its way into global headlines for the third year in a row.
