Refugee Update: Nauru

[dreamer_easy]

Firstly, some unsurprising news: "...leaked testimonies from the Moss inquiry... cast doubt on the evidence used to remove nine Save the Children staff from their jobs working with asylum seekers on Nauru... There is speculation the Moss report will be released this week... The transcripts of evidence seen by the ABC contain harrowing testimonies of sexual abuse."

Sanitary Pads 'A Fire Hazard': The Realities Of Life For Mothers And Children On Nauru: sexual abuse, lack of water for showers, laundry, and even drinking, lack of basic health care (including diabetes medications, grrr) - nothing new, in short, just more of the endless parade of cruelty and horror. (I did mention I was a little down, didn't I?) This is despite the enormous costs of running the detention centre, including $24.7 million for health care.

Refugees living on Nauru outside the camp are protesting their living conditions and the constant threat of violence from locals and "living conditions that include a ban on refugees visiting schools, the island hospital, the harbour or the airport". Over a hundred and eighty refugees were arrested in connection with the protests, many complaining of beatings, theft, and mistreatment by police.

Comments

[hnpcc]

I have to admit I'm finding it harder and harder to read anything about the detention centres because it is just so incredibly depressing. I realise that's not a good reason to turn away, so I don't - but holy shit I hope this government gets the flick and that the new government has the moral compass to close the offshore detention centres and progress to a more humane and sustainable process. Then again, the ALP are equally as culpable in this mess as the Liberals, so probably not.

"A fire risk".

It's enough to make you want to make a sanitary napkin bomb really isn't it.

[dreamer-easy.livejournal.com]

Oh no, now I have a mental picture of lighting the fuse on a tampon... all deliberate cruelty aside, could these places be any less competently run?!

[dreamer-easy.livejournal.com]

PS What hope I have comes from history - these injustices always end eventually - and, paradoxically, from the fact that we are still hearing about them. If no-one cared, if there really was no hope of change, there'd be little or nothing in the papers.