Refugees in Former Detention Centre in Need of Urgent Medical Attention, Activists Say
  • 6 years ago
Footage taken on November 16 from inside the former detention centre on Manus Island showed squalid conditions and refugees appealing for urgent medical treatment for those suffering from illness.The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, a major refugee support organisation in Australia, gained access to the former detention centre where up to 420 were refusing to leave after its closure on over two weeks earlier. Footage and interviews taken by the ASRC showed deteriorating conditions inside the compound, with many of the men languishing without adequate drinking water, plumbing, food or medical supplies.The ASRC said as many as 150 men were suffering from untreated chest pains, kidney stones, infected cuts, ear and eye infections, skin rashes, diarrhoea, skin abscesses and an array of mental health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.Members of the Australian Medical Association on Saturday unanimously called for the government to allow independent doctors and health experts access to the centre, The Guardian reported. Papua New Guinea authorities have blocked access to the centre and continued to dismantle shelters and make-shift water storage tanks at the facility. Credit: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre via Storyful
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