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Women, sick children heading to Nauru Detention Center
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (RNZI)—Women and sick children detained on Australia’s Christmas Island could be moved to Nauru, where they might face worse health threats.
The spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul, says mothers on Christmas Island were told on the weekend they would likely be moved to Nauru, where there’s more of the phosphate they say is making their children sick.
Some families were temporarily moved to Darwin for treatment, but on return to Christmas Island, they say the children’s condition worsened.
Ian Rintoul says some women are on suicide watch as they have threatened self harm after spending a year in limbo.
He says families have requested to move sooner, without realizing the conditions on Nauru could be worse.
“People are very very distressed to feel that they’re powerless to help their children, they’re desperate to get proper medical attention and they believe they need to get away from Christmas Island so that they can get proper medical attention and their kids can get better,” says Rintoul.
