“Terry” (not his real name), an Iranian refugee on Nauru, has sewn his lips together and began a hunger strike last Friday (29 May) in protest against his deportation and the conditions on Nauru that threaten his life.
Astonishingly, the High Court found that the existing law allowed the government to remove “Terry” to Nauru, “despite the evidence that the medical services in Nauru are inadequate to manage his severe asthma on an ongoing basis”.
The court also found, “It can immediately be accepted that the harshness of the consequences of removal for TCXM is increased by the real risk of premature death faced by TCXM due to the inadequacy of treatment in Nauru for his severe asthma.”
Terry was deported to Nauru on 6 May after losing his appeal in the TCXM High Court hearing. He has been hospitalized twice since his removal to Nauru because of his severe asthma condition.
As if to demonstrate the government’s complete contempt for the human rights of those they are deporting to Nauru, and particularly the rights of the disabled, on 27 May, Labor sent a Libyan man confined to a wheelchair to the island prison camp.
There are no facilities for a wheelchair in the camp. The man cannot get out of his room without assistance from other detainees. He is unable to cook for himself; he has difficulty accessing the toilet; he cannot clean his room or access the kitchen area used by the other detainees. He cannot go to the shops.
“Terry, and all the non-citizens deported to Nauru must be returned to Australia. The deportation law is a fundamentally racist piece of legislation that allows extra-judicial punishment just because people are non-citizens,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
“Currently there are 12 people of the NZYQ cohort that the government has deported to Nauru. Yet the government is spending $63 million for just the first year of the deal with Nauru to warehouse those deported there. It is a horrendous waste of money and lives. Nauru should be closed.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
