MOSCOW, August 9 (RIA Novosti) - An open letter commissioned by Professor Louise Newman and signed by over 190 individuals and organizations demands the Australian government end mandatory detention and offshore processing of asylum-seekers attempting to enter Australia, the Guardian has reported.
“This crisis of immigration detention requires urgent action and the cessation of offshore deportation and mandatory detention,” said Newman, who sat on the immigration department’s Immigration Health Advisory Board before it was disband by the Australian government in December, according to The Guardian.
Professor Louise Newman, one of Australia’s foremost developmental psychiatrists and a signatory to the statement, said the document “pulls together prominent Australians with a shared view that current responses to asylum seekers, including children, are cruel, unnecessary and unacceptable.”
The letter titled, “J’accuse” includes 13 points outlining the failures of the Australian government and both major political parties that prevent doctors and health professionals from adhering to their oath of “First Do No Harm.”
The document accuses the Australian government of willfully and deliberately pursing a policy of detention for asylum-seekers despite expert proof that it causes psychiatric disorders, self-harm and suicide. According to the document, the policy hurts vulnerable individuals as a means to a political end.
Australia’s current policies go against child protection policies by using detention as a first resort rather than last. “J’accuse” claims the government’s treatment of asylum-seekers acts against UN conventions and treaties in addition to damaging the social fabric of Australia by promoting an insular and unethical society.
The statement comes after the former chief psychiatrist responsible for the mental health of all asylum-seekers detained by Australia, Dr. Peter Young, reported to several media outlets the government’s use of the system to discourage asylum-seekers from settling on the mainland. Dr. Young reported to The Guardian Australia the tortuous effects of long-term detention. Dr. Young said International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) figures had shown for some time that a third of adults and children in the detention system had what he labelled “a significant-level disorder.” Young told the Guardian Australia that the figures show the likeliness of acquiring a mental disorder increases by 50 percent after one year of sitting in a detention center.
So far “J’accuse” includes signatories such as human rights lawyer Julian Burnside, bioethicist Deborah Zion and novelist Dr. Rosie Scott.
