The Treatment of Asylum Seekers Reflects Government Failure in its Duty of Care

What this really means is that there is a void in respect to feeling for the humanity of vulnerable people. The abuse of refugees has been going on a long time here in Australia and is still continuing.  The question is how can a first world country behave in ways that reflect brutality. I heard the Prime Minister speaking today of the abuse of children in Government care.  Apparrently an apology is coming.  The real issue is not an apology but what is it within our government that cares nothing for vulnerable people.  I know of this attitude as i have experienced it in, what I thought, was intelligent people.  I came to realise it is emotional disconneciton that feels nothing in the face of suffering.  How can this be transformed.  I feel we have to look at the socialisation of males, we have to look at dumbing down of values and the fact that the values arising in Australia are becoming more focused on money over people.  This is not a future for children or asylum seekers who are homeless people requiring shelter.

I vote for respect and humanitarian treatment of refugees.  I vote that private companies do not abuse refugees and this be transferred into public hands so that Freedom of Information Requests can ensure public accountability.  I vote that ex military are not guards but those trained in trauma from non government organisations.

 

‘Real and tragic consequences’: asylum seekers left untreated for hepatitis C

The doctors who examined Wissam Jadiri when he came to Australia by boat in 2013 detected his elevated liver enzymes right away. But it took more than four years, countless flights and threats of a federal court case for the 41-year-old Feyli Kurdish asylum seeker to get treatment for hepatitis C.

“They told me because you don’t have visa, because you detainee, we can’t give you medication,” he says. “This is not fair [that] they treat me like that, in a country like Australia.”

Feyli Kurdish asylum seeker Wissam Jadiri, who is on Christmas Island, now receives hepatitis C medication.

Feyli Kurdish asylum seeker Wissam Jadiri, who is on Christmas Island, now receives hepatitis C medication.

Photo: Supplied

Mr Jadiri is far from alone. A new report by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre has identified the “routine denial” of antiviral treatment to people in immigration detention, and accused the federal government of failing to fulfil its common law duty of care.

It also identified a “failure to properly physically and psychologically treat suicidal asylum seekers” and the misuse and overuse of handcuffs and mechanical constraints, particularly on mentally ill asylum seekers.

Of the 60 referrals it received since September 2016, the centre agreed to help 24 people with high-level needs, including eight who were initially refused treatment for hepatitis C. In four cases, the prisoners were ultimately given medication: one through a decision of the contracted healthcare provider, another courtesy of a pharmaceutical company and two through the centre’s legal efforts.

Mr Jadiri, who remains on Christmas Island as his asylum claim progresses, only started receiving medication in March following a letter of demand by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre to the federal government.

“The hepatitis C cases are just absolutely stark,” said the centre’s chief executive Jonathon Hunyor. “There’s a treatment available, it’s provided to others, it’s recommended, it’s needed and it isn’t being delivered.”

The broader problem identified in the report was the “legislative vacuum” around healthcare inside immigration detention. Unlike most laws governing state prisons, the federal Migration Act does not mandate the right to reasonable medical care and treatment.

In the case of hepatitis C, the general prison population is a priority group for receiving treatment, due to the prevalence of infection.

The Department of Home Affairs and its contractor, International Health and Medical Services, argue detainees in Australian immigration detention have access to healthcare that is “broadly comparable” with the general public health system, under a long-running agreement.

Mr Hunyor recommended this be enforced by enshrining the minimum standards in law, and noted “the Federal Court has on a number of occasions expressed concern about this legislative vacuum”.

“The case studies … confirm people in held and community detention are not receiving the same standard of health care that is provided to Australian community members,” the report concluded.

“The failure to provide this care has real, often tragic, consequences. The Australian government is not fulfilling its common law duty of care to people in immigration detention, many of whom have already experienced high levels of trauma prior to arriving in Australia.”

The report, In Poor Health: Health Care in Australian Immigration Detention, covers only onshore immigration detention, not the offshore centres established by Australia in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. There were 1369 people in onshore immigration detention, excluding community detention, at the end of April, according to government statistics.

 

Human Rights Commissioner Ed Santow, a former Public Interest Advocacy Centre chief executive, will launch the report in Sydney on Wednesday.

PIAC at a glance

PIAC tackles difficult social problems that impact on the lives of many Australians. We conduct test cases and strategic litigation in the public interest, and provide legal assistance, policy advice and training to create positive change to the lives of people who are disadvantaged and marginalised.

Strategic litigation

Changing the system through public interest test cases

  • Indigenous Justice
  • Mental Health and Insurance
  • Police accountability
  • Asylum Seeker Health Rights
  • Discrimination and human rights
  • Government and the rule of law

Homeless Persons Legal Service

Breaking the cycle of disadvantage for people experiencing homelessness

  • Legal help at 15 outreach clinics, staffed by over 500 pro bono lawyers
  • StreetCare: advocacy and practical advice to government and service providers

Energy and Water Consumers’ Advocacy Program

The voice of energy and water consumers in NSW

  • Research and policy development to promote affordability and sustainability
  • Representing consumer interests in regulatory processes

Policy and law reform

Working with government, business and the community in the public interest

  • An influential and authoritative voice in the media
  • A respected stakeholder, making submissions of substance

Training for Social Justice

Developing community capacity for effective public interest advocacy

  • Social Justice and Practising in the Public Interest courses for University students
  • Training for individuals, government and NGOs on advocacy, media skills and best-practice service delivery to vulnerable communities

International Projects

Supporting transitional justice: the Conflict Map and Archive Project (Sri Lanka).

  • Collecting, preserving and analysing evidence of potential human rights and international humanitarian law abuses to promote truth, justice
Mohandas Gandhi

“Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong”

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