Doctors at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne staged a protest yesterday against the returning of child patients back to detention centres, according to the Herald Sun.
Over 400 staff were present at yesterday’s protest, advocating for children to be removed from Australian detention centres.
Staff at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. Photo by David Caird. #kidsout pic.twitter.com/ovCrkKn4ka
— Beck Stuart (@beckstuart) October 10, 2015
Staff @ RCH Melb gather today to send a message.Detention Harms Kids #kidsOut Now! #Auspol #AsylumSeekers #LNP #ALP pic.twitter.com/gBA0QsQUYk
— Zoe Abbra (@ZoeChapuller) October 9, 2015
One doctor told the Herald Sun that discharging patients back to detention was counter-productive.
“We see a whole range of physical, mental, emotional and social disturbances that are really severe and we have no hope of improving these things when we have to discharge our patients back into detention.”
According to 9 News, up to 100 children are currently detained in Australian centres. The protest calling out the unethical practice of discharging patients to unhealthy environments comes after the Federal Government passed new laws this year – banning health workers from speaking out against conditions at detention centres in Australia and offshore, or else be hit with up to two years jail time.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton recognised the doctors’ protest, but upheld the party room’s stance on “stopping the boats” above all else: “I understand the concern of doctors, but the Defence and Border Force staff on our vessels who were pulling dead kids out of the water don’t want the boats to restart.”
via 9 News.
Lead image by Luis Ascui via Getty.
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