Ruth, a 35-year-old Nigerian asylum seeker who has been in PNG for more than eight and half years, was found dead in her accommodation in Port Moresby on Monday 25 August.
Ruth had not been seen by other refugees since last Friday morning.
Ruth arrived in Papua New Guinea seeking asylum in 2017 and was held in the notorious Bomana detention centre for three and half years.
While the cause of death is unknown at this time, Ruth had been suffering serious medical issues, but inadequate treatment, since her release from Bomana. Refugees in her accommodation report that Ruth had been particularly sick for weeks but had been unable to get any medical attention.
Ruth was one of 18 asylum seekers and refugees presently in PNG who had not been sent by the Australian government, but had arrived independently. Some have been in PNG for 13 years. PNG immigration has no arrangement to provide medical support for asylum seekers.
Ruth’s death highlights the precarious existence and neglect of asylum seekers and refugees in PNG, along with the 36 refugees sent by the Rudd Labor government in 2013, living in Port Moresby.
Previously, people found to be refugees in PNG by the UNHCR were resettled in Australia, but that agreement was scuttled when Manus Island became Australia’s offshore prison for refugees in 2012.
“Ruth is just as much a victim of Australia’s offshore refugee regime as those who were sent to Manus,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, “Ruth’s death has created yet another wave of anxiety among the refugees in PNG.
“There is no future for the asylum seekers and refugees in PNG. Manus Island is closed, but the legacy of Australia’s offshore detention regime still throws a dark cloud over those left behind in PNG. The responsibility for Ruth’s death lies with the Albanese government. The lack of proper health care in PNG has been spelled out over and over again.”
“All the asylum seekers and refugees need to be brought to Australia,” said Rintoul.
For more information contact Ian Rintoul: +61 417 275 713
(Ruth’s full name available on inquiry.)
