Refugee Update

After he was declared brain dead in hospital on 2 September, Manus Island detainee Hamid Khazaei's life support was switched off with the consent of his family on 5 September. The family's wish for Hamid's organs to be donated could not be fulfilled due to the septicaemia which killed him, apparently as the result of delayed and/or inadequate treatment. His condition was apparently already critical by the time he reached Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, en route to Brisbane.

The Immigration Department and International Health and Medical Services are holding reviews, but more importantly, the Queensland coroner is holding an inquest into Khazaei's death, treating it as a death in custody. A lawyer acting for Khazaei's family is investigating whether they may have a case against the government for negligence.

Two doctors who worked on Christmas Island have called for discussion of a boycott by medical practitioners of the immigration detention system. Their letter in the Medical Journal of Australia describes the conflict of interests for doctors trying to treat detainees.

Both International Health and Medical Services and Serco will probably keep their contracts for onshore detention centres.