Refugee Crisis – Evening Report

Canberra cannot ignore Manus Island suicide attempt crisis, warns advocate

Asia Pacific Report — Tue, 21 May 2019 22:15:56 +0000

The Australian election result has precipitated a wave of suicide attempts among Manus Island refugees that the government can no longer ignore, warns a refugee advocate.

The Liberal Party-led Coalition was returned to power on Saturday. It defeated the Labor Party, which had promised to expedite the resettlement of about 900 refugees who have been detained by Australia without trial on Papua New Guinea’s Manus and Nauru for six years.

The advocate, Ian Rintoul, said yesterday that seven refugees had attempted suicide since Saturday.

A suicide note written by a Manus Island refugee. Image: Ian Rintoul/RNZ Pacific

“It has been building for six years, but the weekend’s election result has precipitated a crisis that the government cannot afford to ignore,” Rintoul said.

“Offshore detention is slowing strangling the life out of its victims.”

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Rintoul circulated a “heartbreaking” suicide note written by a 31-year-old Sudanese refugee, who attempted to hang himself on Tuesday morning.

“I can’t fight any longer, everythings have gone from me, my lovely youth, and age, and love and happiness and I became broken, worthless and useless,” it said.

Two other refugees were in Lorengau hospital on Tuesday after suicide attempts, another was discharged that morning while two others were in one of three refugee detention centres on the island, Rintoul said.

Two other men, who had attempted to set fire to themselves on Sunday, had been moved from police cells to a low security compound, he said.

“The government has no resettlement arrangements for those still left on Manus and Nauru. Hundreds remain in limbo, and all hope is draining away.”

Where to get help
These are services across the Pacific for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.

Tonga:
Lifeline: 23000 or 25144

Fiji:
Lifeline: 667 0565

Papua New Guinea:
Lifeline: Port Moresby 326 0011

Samoa:
Samoa Lifeline: 800-5433

New Zealand:
Lifeline: 0800 543 354

Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO (24/7). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.

Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 (24/7)

Samaritans: 0800 726 666 (24/7)

Youthline: 0800 376 633 (24/7) or free text 234 (8am-12am), or email talk@youthline.co.nz

What’s Up: online chat (7pm-10pm) or 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787 children’s helpline (1pm-10pm weekdays, 3pm-10pm weekends)

Kidsline (ages 5-18): 0800 543 754 (24/7)

Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254

Healthline: 0800 611 116

Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

This article is published under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.
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Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Media prize a ‘defeat’ for Australian refugee censorship, says author

Pacific Media Centre — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 14:01:34 +0000

Behrouz Boochani … Australian government used “systematic censorship” to control refugee information. Image: Hoda Afshar/Behrouz Boochani/RNZ Pacific

By RNZ Pacific

A refugee journalist detained on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island says winning an Italian award for investigative journalism could end censorship of offshore detention in the Australian media.

Behrouz Boochani, who has made a documentary and written a book during his five years in exile, has won the Anna Politkovskaya Prize for Press Freedom from the Italian magazine Internazionale.

Boochani regularly contributes to The Guardian and the Saturday Paper in Australia but said other publications supported the Australian government’s efforts to restrict information about its offshore detention regime.

“The Australian government couldn’t keep 2000 people, including children and women, in a harsh prison camps on Manus and Nauru without systematic censorship,” Boochani said.

“I have many experiences working with the media in Australia and also internationally over the past five years and I know that the government always tries to manage the information and censor the situation,” he said.

-Partners-

“But after five years I think they are defeated because international media and public opinion are aware completely of what the government has done on Manus and Nauru.”

Condemning a fact
The Guardian reported that the award’s organisers paid tribute to Boochani’s “commitment to condemning a fact which has been intentionally kept out of the spotlight”.

The prize was a symbol of the struggle of the refugees who had spoken out from offshore detention as well as their advocates, human rights defenders and independent journalists who had covered their stories, the journalist said.

“I think it is very important because our work is acknowledged and recognised internationally.”

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Has Jacinda Ardern let down the Nauru refugees?

Bryce Edwards — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 08:37:58 +0000

Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Has Jacinda Ardern let down the Nauru refugees?

One of the main images to come out of the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru was the island’s President and locals performing a song for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her baby, called “Jacinda New Star in the Sky”. You can watch the full performance on TVNZ – see: Jacinda Ardern serenaded with song written especially for her and Neve on arrival to Nauru. Not everyone was as delighted as the Prime Minister by the authoritarian president’s performance. Australian refugee advocate Ian Rintoul went on RNZ’s Morning Report today to say he was sickened by the scene: “When I saw the performance by the Nauru President, serenading Jacinda Ardern, actually it was stomach-turning in many ways. He talks about her new baby, but says nothing about the new babies that are endangered day-in, day-out on Nauru – refugee babies that are not getting the healthcare that they need. Mothers are not getting the healthcare that they need. And to have that serenading, honestly, was a shocking performance” – see: ‘Disappointing’ Ardern did not meet Nauru refugees – Rintoul. In the same interview, Rintoul talks about how impressed he was when Ardern initially expressed her intention to meet with refugees: “That’s what was so encouraging, initially, that she was insisting that she was going to meet with the refugees. The refugees were expecting that. It showed that she was prepared to push the envelope”. Rintoul “says meeting with refugees would have been an opportunity to cut through the propaganda of the Nauru government.” Instead, reflecting on what Ardern has said on RNZ this morning, Rintoul says Ardern “seems to be willing to accept things that are being said by the Australian and Nauru governments at face value – like that refugees have been integrated into the community. That is just not true.” You can read and hear these statements by Ardern here: Nauru refugees: NZ doing all it can, says PM. Ardern now claims the refugees in Nauru “have integrated into the community”, although she confirms in this interview that she didn’t actually meet any refugees and is relying on officials for her information. The Prime Minister also explains why she chose not to talk to any refugees, arguing she wanted to protect them from having their hopes unfairly boosted, saying “I was worried about raising those expectations.” For a full picture of what life is actually like for the refugees, the PM would be well advised to read James Harris’ account published on The Spinoff. Harris is a community engagement manager at World Vision NZ, who spent two years on Nauru “providing welfare services to asylum seekers” and came to the conclusion that “the detaining of children on Nauru amounts to nothing less than child abuse at the hands of the Australian and Nauruan governments” – see: In a few days, NZ has a chance to rescue the betrayed children of Nauru. He writes of a 13-year-old Iranian girl smiling at him and offering the words “kia kaha” – she had been learning te reo from a New Zealand security guard. But here’s Harris’ main point “Despite their harrowing circumstances, some of the kindest, most hospitable people I have ever met are being held on Nauru. Although they have nothing, they would still find ways to exhibit the generosity that underpins their characters and cultures. Any country would be lucky to have them. However they are trapped in a brutal system that not only doesn’t acknowledge their generosity, warm natures or hospitality; it denies their humanity altogether. These people are essentially trapped, living in conditions no human, let alone child, should have to endure.” Such assessments are entirely in line with a report just released by the Refugee Council of Australia, which detailed how refugees are suffering extreme mental health issues as a result of their appalling situation. Many are becoming catatonic, some are dousing themselves in petrol and attempting suicide – including children as young as seven years old. Should Jacinda Ardern have met with refugees? Prior to leaving for Nauru, the PM also justified her decision not to talk to any refugees, by saying “But if I meet with the individual refugees, how do we decide who they would be?” Radio NZ provided one possibility – 24-year-old Ahmed, from Syria, who had been on the island for five years and had a desire to meet with Ardern – see: Nauru refugee tells Peters: ‘I want to have a better life’. The refugee also conveyed a message for Winston Peters: “please help save us”. Peters response to the issue is also reported: “He said he doesn’t want the forum hijacked by the refugee issue, but also said he will potentially meet with some refugees while on the island.” Another candidate for a meeting is identified by Chris Bramwell: “An Iranian man detained on Nauru wrote to Jacinda Ardern earlier this month asking if he could meet with her when she visits Nauru. He was told by her office that would not be possible as she will be focused on the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ meeting” – see: PM softens language on meeting with refugees on Nauru. Alternatively, the Prime Minister could have asked World Vision to arrange a meeting, as TVNZ’s Barbara Dreaver did. The Herald reported that “World Vision New Zealand assisted TVNZ Correspondent Barbara Dreaver to connect with refugees on Nauru while she is there covering the Pacific Islands Forum” – see: 1 News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver released by police after being detained in Nauru. This report on Dreaver’s detention by Nauru police also quotes World Vision New Zealand national director Grant Bayldon pleading with the various leaders to make a stand on the refugee crisis: “If Pacific Island Forum leaders don’t speak out on this issue it’s hard to see what the forum itself stands for.” Should Jacinda Ardern have pushed the refugee issue harder? Grant Bayldon was clear about the need for New Zealand to do more on the issue, explaining before the Forum that “This is an emergency” – see: Dear Prime Minister, Evacuate the kids off Nauru. He asked Ardern to bypass Australia, and negotiate directly with Nauru. The New Zealand Herald has agreed with this approach, and argued that the absence of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison from the forum made the task easier – see the editorial, Jacinda Ardern is obliged to raise refugees with Pacific Islands Forum host. The newspaper notes that Ardern appeared ambivalent about raising the refugee issue, but concluded: “Whether she does or not, the issue will haunt the gathering. The island is tiny, the refugees must be conspicuous and they have sympathetic ears there today. They could ensure we are better informed.” Now that the Nauru forum is over, The Press has expressed its disappointment in an editorial by Philip Matthews, who says it was “a squandered opportunity for New Zealand to display its principles at a global level” – see: A lost opportunity on Nauru. He argues that “political realism” meant that “an ongoing human rights crisis is no closer to an end and that politics will always come first.” Blogger No Right Turn has also expressed his strong disappointment with the Prime Minister’s lack of action on the refugee crisis: “Any decent New Zealand Prime Minister should have taken a stand, denounced this, and done something about it: rescued the refugee children whose torture at Australian hands is driving them to suicide; offered them the free seats on the 757 which flew her there; at least met with them. But of course, Ardern did none of that” – see: Disappointed. Finally, although there has been plenty of condemnation of the current government of Nauru, it needs to be remembered that the Micronesian island is in many ways a victim of past actions by Australia and New Zealand, and these have shaped the politics of the country today. Therefore it’s worth reading Anne Davies and Ben Doherty’s recent Guardian article, Corruption, incompetence and a musical: Nauru’s cursed history.]]>

Aid groups call on Pacific leaders to end Nauru refugee ‘stain in region’

Pacific Media Centre — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 00:01:35 +0000

Some of the children in the refugee camp on the island of Nauru. Image: SBS/Rural Australians for Fefugees/File

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Amnesty International has joined 80 other NGOs in urging Pacific leaders to demand the closure of the Australian-funded immigration detention camp on Nauru when they meet in the Pacific nation next week, reports SBS News.

The 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) will hold its annual summit in Nauru from September 3-6, with delegates meeting just a few kilometres from the camp dubbed “Australia’s Guantanamo”.

Amnesty, along with the 80 other non-government organisations, released an open letter calling on PIF leaders to act and end “a stain on the region”.

“Pacific island leaders cannot ignore this issue any longer and need to ensure that it is at the very top of the forum’s agenda,” Amnesty’s Pacific researcher Roshika Deo said this week.

“This is a desperate situation that requires urgent action. Regional leaders must show that they will not stand by while the Australian government’s abusive policies continue to risk more lives.”

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The rights groups said asylum-seekers on Nauru and PNG’s Manus Island were subjected to “cruel and degrading treatment” that must stop.

“[There are] widespread reports of violence against refugees in Papua New Guinea and violence and sexual harassment of women and children on Nauru,” the letter said.

200 people detained
There are more than 200 people in the Nauru facility, according to the Refugee Council of Australia, including dozens of children.

However, the Canberra-bankrolled facility has been an economic lifeline for Nauru, which has an area of only 21 sq km and has depleted its only natural resource, phosphate, reports SBS.

The Nauru government has imposed strict conditions on media covering the PIF summit, threatening to revoke journalists’ visas if they capture images of the camps or asylum-seekers.

It has also limited the number of reporters attending and barred Australia’s public broadcaster ABC, after taking exception to its coverage.

A child in Australia’s Nauru detention centre. Image: SBS/World Vision

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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