Doctors Without Borders: The Situation of Refugees in Nauru is Extremely Bad

With increasing concerns and alarming reports about the situation of refugees sent by Australia to the camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, "Doctors Without Borders" states that the mental health of many of those in Nauru is "extremely bad" and "inhumane." In a report titled "Endless Despair" published on Monday, December 3, it was stated that 60% of those whom doctors have treated in Nauru "have thought about suicide" and 30% of them have attempted to commit suicide. Doctors Without Borders notes that among those who have attempted suicide, children as young as 9 years old have been seen. According to this non-governmental charity, doctors and aid workers in Nauru's detention centers have witnessed one of the worst humanitarian conditions in the world; "even considering the assistance that this organization has provided to victims of torture." However, the Nauru government has forced this organization to leave the island; according to the organization, aid workers provided assistance to Nauru citizens and refugees sent by Australia to the detention centers of this island from November 2017 to October 2018. Doctors Without Borders states that on October 5, the Nauru government suddenly announced, "We no longer need you" and forced aid workers to leave the island within 24 hours. This organization claims that doctors and aid workers had to "abandon hundreds of patients who needed urgent assistance" and leave. The expulsion of aid workers from Nauru comes at a time when this organization had asked the Australian government in October to immediately evacuate refugees, especially children, from Nauru. The recent warning from Doctors Without Borders regarding the situation of refugees sent by Australia to the Pacific Islands is not the first of its kind; rather, it is a new report from activists and monitoring organizations that have all expressed concern about the conditions of families, children, and others who are detained. In October, the United Nations urged the Australian government to promptly evacuate and close the refugee detention centers of this country in islands far from Australian soil. Shortly after, the Australian Medical Association warned about the situation of children in the refugee camp in Nauru, stating that the fact that none of them have lost their lives yet is a "miracle." In November, Amnesty International called on Australian politicians to take immediate action to transfer 1,287 men, women, and children who are in the camps in Nauru and Papua. However, it seems that none of these warnings have had much impact on the policies of the Australian government. Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia, emphasized late last summer that he would "not take any action that would jeopardize Australia's border protection policies." This statement means that the Australian government is unwilling to change its policies regarding the rejection of any boat refugees on its territory and continues to keep them outside its borders. According to statistics from the "Refugee Council of Australia" from last summer, the total number of refugees in both Nauru and Papua is estimated to be 1,655. It is reported that a total of 3,127 people were sent to these two countries as part of agreements between Australia, Nauru, and Papua, many of whom were Iranian; among them, at least 855 people have "voluntarily" left the islands, with the majority returning to their homeland.