URGENT ACTION: Advocacy Blitz – a week of targeted advocacy calling for IMMEDIATE MEDICAL EVACUATIONS from PNG.
PLEASE WRITE and/or call your local MP and the ACT Senators and ask them to urge Minister Burke to immediately bring the 7 seriously ill men from PNG for urgent medical treatment here in Australia – to save their lives.
See below for a Statement to be sent to Politicians – this is provided as a guide only. Please feel free to change.
ACT MPs and Senators:
Alicia Payne MP (alicia.payne.mp@aph.gov.au)
Andrew Leigh MP (Andrew.Leigh.MP@aph.gov.au)
David Smith MP (David.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au)
Kristy McBain MP (Kristy.McBain.MP@aph.gov.au)
Senator Katy Gallagher (senator.katy.gallagher@aph.gov.au)
Senator David Pocock (Senator.David.Pocock@aph.gov.au)
STATEMENT TO BE SENT TO POLITICIANS:
FOR YOUR URGENT ATTENTION:
IMMEDIATE MEDICAL EVACUATION TO AUSTRALIA NEEDED FOR 7 CRITICALLY ILL MEN ON PNG – NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT
24 refugees and people seeking asylum are still trapped in PNG as a direct result of Australia’s offshore processing policy. After years of detention, deprivation and loss of hope, many men suffer physical and mental health issues. Seven of the men are so ill that they are unable to engage in resettlement processes, or live without ongoing intensive support, and this is recognised by the PNG Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority.
The required specialist mental health care and medical intervention is not available in PNG and, without the necessary treatment, these men will continue to deteriorate and are likely to die prematurely in PNG. To enable successful resettlement for these men, their health must improve, and this requires medical treatment in Australia.
His terrible decline illustrates the dire situation that the men are in.
URGENT CALL TO BRING THESE SERIOUSLY ILL MEN TO AUSTRALIA:
We are calling on the Australian government to act urgently to medically evacuate the 7 seriously ill men for critical treatment not available in PNG. Once recovered they will be able to take up safe resettlement options. It is understood that the families of at least 2 of the men want them to return, but they are currently too ill for this option to be considered.
I am imploring you to lobby Minister Burke as a matter of urgency to reinstate a policy for the medical evacuation of people to Australia, starting with the immediate medical transfers to Australia for the 7 critically ill men for essential mental health care and medical treatment.
Hundreds of others held in PNG and Nauru have previously been brought to Australia for medical care – there is no justification for now denying these few men in PNG the medical treatment they require.
Failure to act now will inevitably result in widespread media coverage. We know that the situation for the man in the photographs is being reported in New Zealand and we have heard that the issue is being raised with international human rights bodies by refugee advocates in Germany. This is likely to become a major and ongoing embarrassment to the Australian Government.
Background: Most of the 1523 men sent to Manus Island since 2013 have been resettled in US, Canada or New Zealand, or have been brought to Australia for medical care. But, after 13 years, 24 men remain there – they were held in detention on Manus Island for more than 4 years, and since then have been living a precarious existence in Port Moresby, where they are not receiving adequate medical care, are suffering declining mental and physical health, are not wanted by the community and are frequently subjected to violent assault. They are still waiting for safe resettlement options.
Twelve months ago, the Guardian reported the seriousness of the situation for the men still in PNG: ‘We just sit here’: the broken men Australia’s offshore detention regime left behind in Papua New Guinea – and now it is even worse for the few men remaining.
The UNHCR refutes our government’s claim that Australia is not responsible for people held offshore, and years ago the UNHCR called for the medical evacuation of refugees and people seeking asylum from PNG and Nauru: https://www.unhcr.org/au/news/news-releases/unhcr-appeals-urgent-medical-intervention-australia
Call for their immediate evacuation for urgent medical care. They have suffered for 13 years in PNG – NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT.
