Australian NGO Says Gov't Failing To Respond To COVID-19 Risks In Immigration Detention
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published August 04, 2020 | 06:10 PM
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th August, 2020) The Australian Department of Home Affairs is failing to appropriately address COVID-19 threats in immigration detention centers across the country, an Australian rights organization said in a statement on Monday, slamming the government's decision to reopen the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Center.
The center was closed in 2018, but the following year, the government announced plans to reopen it for refugees and asylum seekers in need of a medical transfer from Manus Island and Nauru. Earlier in the day, the Australian Border Force confirmed that people currently in immigration detention on the mainland, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, will be temporarily transferred to the Christmas Island center "to relieve capacity pressure across the detention network in Australia." Notably, Melbourne is currently experiencing a new surge in infections and is under a six-week lockdown that started on July 8.
According to the Human Rights Law Centre, Australian medical organizations have repeatedly called on the government to release refugees held in detention centers to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NGO noted that other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, had taken preventive measures and reduced the number of people held in immigration detention.
"The Government clearly knows people are at risk in their crowded immigration detention centers � it beggars belief that they are going to such extraordinary lengths to avoid a humane and logical solution. By reopening detention facilities on a remote island, thousands of kilometers from specialist medical care, [Australian Interior] Minister [Peter] Dutton has chosen a dangerous and cruel response to a public health crisis," Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Center David Burke said, as quoted by a press release.
Australia has so far confirmed nearly 19,000 COVID-19 cases and 232 related deaths. At the same time, over 10,500 people have fully recovered from the disease.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
ICC Asia looking forward to an action-packed Asia Cricket Week
Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Ambassador
Greece hands Olympic flame to 2024 Paris Games hosts
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
Heavy rains cause damage to Spezand-Taftan railway track
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
More Stories From World
-
Junta-led Burkina Faso suspends BBC, Voice of America for two weeks
11 minutes ago -
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
31 minutes ago -
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
31 minutes ago -
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
46 minutes ago -
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
35 minutes ago -
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
35 minutes ago
-
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
43 minutes ago -
Israeli-fired unexploded bombs could take 14 years to clear: UN
36 minutes ago -
US announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
30 minutes ago -
Pakistan’s National Day Reception held in Colombo
30 minutes ago -
Erdogan's White House talks with Biden on May 9 postponed: Turkish official
30 minutes ago -
Spanish PM keeps country guessing on his future
30 minutes ago