Refugee activists are calling for the government to act urgently to medevac a Kurdish-Iranian refugee, Hatam Yekta, from Port Moresby to Australia. (Photos shared with Hatam’s family permission.)
Hatam, a 36-year-old refugee, first sent to Manus Island in 2013, is in a critical condition in Paradise Hospital in Port Moresby. Hatam’s mental and physical health has seriously deteriorated. It is understood that Hatam has been in Paradise Hospital for up to four months. A doctor at the Paradise Hospital told one refugee that Hatam may only have months to live.
The attached photos show Hatam’s present emaciated condition compared to the body builder he once was. His family fear the worst and are desperate for Hatam to get medical help.
Hatam had been approved for medevac to Australia in 2019 but his transfer was abandoned after the Morrison government repealed the medevac legislation in December that year. Since then, consecutive Liberal and Labor governments have refused to transfer Hatam despite repeated appeals.
Hatam’s condition is an appalling example of the plight of the 10 or 12 refugees who are suffering serious mental health problems as a result of their mistreatment in Manus Island detention. Like Hatam, they are no longer deemed able to provide informed consent to communicate with refugee authorities; and they have just been left to suffer.
“It is urgent that the Labor government acts to medevac Hatam to Australia,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, “It is simply unconscionable that the government would deny Hatam the medical and mental health care he needs.
“Labor has a particular responsibility, as the government that sent Hatam and other refugees to Manus Island in 2013, and the government that introduced the Medevac legislation, to act now.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713