Valla Beach market
report
Next roadside
demonstration: Thursday 9th August from 2.30 to 4.00 pm
The inquest into
the death of Hamid Kehazaei
Yet more critical
medical cases ignored
Fundraising effort
by one of our supporters
Valla Beach market
report
We had a very
successful market under beautiful sunny skies at Valla Beach on Saturday.
There were lots of supporters handing out leaflets, collecting signatures
on our open letter, selling our merchandise and of course enjoying one
another's company. We received lots of support from market-goers, who
continually reminded us about how ashamed they feel about what the government
is doing in our name. A number of people signed up to join our group, which
means that we now have more than 600 people who receive this newsletter every
week. That's a lot of people who are prepared to stand up for refugees and
asylum seekers, and who are part of our campaign to bring this cruel and
inhumane asylum policy to an end. A big thank you to the twenty people who have
joined us during the past two weeks.
Our next market stall
will be at Bellingen market on Saturday 15th September from 9.00
am until 1.30 pm. If you can join us for an hour or two on the day, then
please email Mike at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Next roadside
demonstration: Thursday 9th August from 2.30 to 4.00 pm
A reminder that our
next roadside demonstration is this Thursday by the Pacific
Highway, next the the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, from 2.30 until 4.00
pm. These demonstrations are an excellent way to bring the cruelty of
indefinite offshore detention to the attention of the Australian people, and
they undoubtedly have an impact. We have lots of banners and placards to share,
and we would urge supporters to come and join us if you can.
The inquest into
the death of Hamid Kehazaei
The tragedy of the
avoidable death of Iranian asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei was laid bare in the
coroner's court in Brisbane last week. The coroner made it absolutely clear
that the Australian government is responsible for the care and welfare of the
asylum seekers that have been sent to offshore detention, and that the
government had failed in its responsibility to provide Hamid with care
comparable to Australian standards. Hamid died after a series of clinical
errors and delays, including a lack of antibiotics and the overruling of a
doctor's request for an urgent transfer by a Canberra bureaucrat, which follows
a familiar pattern. The president of the Royal Australian College of General
Practitioners Bastian Seidel was scathing in his condemnation of the
government's stance . He stated: "Bureaucrats should never ever be allowed
to override a clinical decision made by a medical doctor.... There comes a
point when Minister Peter Dutton needs to be asked to take responsibility for
the actions of his department." Dr David Berger, an executive member with
Doctors for Refugees, stated that the continued medical neglect of people in
offshore detention to whom Australia owes a legal duty of care is
"scandalous".
He added: "It is
safe to say there is no functioning healthcare in any form that an Australian
would recognise and no way to escalate concerns in any manner, let alone a
timely manner. These cases are not isolated ones."
Yet more critical
medical cases ignored
In spite of the clear
findings by the coroner in the case of Hamid Kehazaei, our government continues
to resist the requests of doctors to transfer patients to Australia for urgent
medical treat In recent days, details of two critical cases have emerged.
The first concerns former Iraq policeman Mohammed Hamza Hussein, who lost his
sight in one eye when he was beaten with a post during the attack on the Manus
detention centre in 2014, and who is now going blind in his other eye.
Ophthalmologists report that he requires urgent intervention- including
treatments not available on Manus Island- in order to save his sight.. Mohammed
says: "I'm the father of four girls, but I've been locked up here for five
years.. I want to be able to see my family again."
The other case
concerns Somalian refugee Abdisalam, who has been on Manus for five years.
Doctors say that he is at risk of losing his leg, or dying from compartment
syndrome if his suspected broken femur continues to be left untreated.
Amazingly, there is currently no working X-ray machine on Manus Island to
determine the extent of his injuries. Abdisalam says:" I cannot sleep day
or night because of this horrible pain that none of you can ever imagine. The
pain kills me every minute....all I see is just pain. The leg is broken, and
the fracture in the bone is not yet medically dealt with. Please, I need
desperately emergency medical assistance." Dr David Berger commented:
"This is a case where somebody with an urgent condition does not have
their case escalated. And as we have seen, delays in treatment are threatening
to life."
The contract for
medical services with the Australian government is provided by Pacific
International Hospital. Their latest government contract with PIH costs the
Australian taxpayer more than $110,000 a day for this appalling level of
service.
Our government's
response for information about these cases was, as always, that it does not
comment on individual medical cases.
If you would like to
contact Minister Dutton's department to demand that doctors' request for urgent
medical transfer of patients must never be overridden by Canberra bureaucrats,
and that these, and other patients must be transferred immediately, then you
can phone his office on: 07 3205 9977, or email him at: minister@border.gov.au.
Fundraising effort
by one of our supporters
Many of you will know
that all the money that we raise from sales and other fundraising events is
donated to the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown. The ASC does fantastic work
supporting asylum seekers in and around Sydney as they wait to have their
claims for protection finalised, a process that now drags on for years
under the government's "fast track" processing policy. The need for
funding has increased dramatically over the past month, as government support
for this cohort of up to 12,000 asylum seekers is gradually withdrawn.
One of our
supporters, Marlene Griffin, is currently "artist of the month" for
August at the Stringer Gallery on Ridge Street in Nambucca Heads, run by the
Nambucca Valley Arts Council. The gallery is located between the post office
and the library. Marlene has paintings large and small on sale, ranging in
price from $20 to $250. All proceeds from any sales will be donated, via our
RAR group, to the ASC. Please therefore consider paying a visit to the gallery,
and help us to support ASC's work by purchasing a work of art. The gallery is
open from 10.00 am until 3.00 pm from Wednesday to Friday,
and from 9.30 am until 12.00 noon on Saturday.
Check out the
index of subjects on our blog http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au
It includes
articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers.
This newsletter is
sent to >620 recipients
Our Face book
is at https://www.facebook.com/Rural-Australians-for-Refugees-Bellingen-and-Nambucca-Districts-269696303205083/timeline/
(579 likes)
Twitter Account @RARBellingenNam
Email address bellingen.rar@gmail.com
The National RAR
web site is at www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au
The National RAR
facebook site is at RAR Facebook
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