Ruth Halbert
artist, weaver
Paper boat Rud.jpg

Blog: Dear Prime Minister

On July 30 2016 I started writing letters to the Prime Minister of Australia to protest against the imprisonment and torture of the asylum seekers in the offshore detention centres of Manus Island and Nauru. I started with the intention of writing a letter a day for every person in detention until they are all freed. There are more than 1800 asylum seekers in off shore detention. These are those letters and any response from Mr Turnbull.

UNHCR Fact Sheet for Manus

Dear Prime Minister,

The UNHCR has released another fact sheet on the situation on Manus Island. It includes the following damning points:

  • poor security at West Haus and Hillside;
  • physical attacks by locals;
  • poor or absent living and communal spaces;
  • broken water and sanitation in West Haus and Hillside;
  • reduced caseworkers who are mostly inaccessible;
  • no coordination or monitoring of services;
  • increased community tensions;
  • sewage contamination;
  • deteriorating mental health;
  • incomplete assessment of refugee status;
  • inadequate bathrooms;
  • untreated water;
  • reduced or absent medical services;
  • no ambulance;
  • no interpreters;
  • no trauma counselling;
  • 50 refugees need medical transfer to Port Moresby but it is denied;
  • overcrowding;
  • disease risk;
  • no mental health support.

'Long-term solutions remain needed for all people transferred by Australia to Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Neither Papua New Guinea nor Nauru are appropriate places for local integration for the majority of refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly given their acute needs as a result of prolonged detention and harsh conditions.' 

Amnesty now for all refugees and asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru.

Ruth HalbertComment