Peter Dutton again forced by court to transfer sick child from Nauru to Australia
Case joins more than a dozen failed attempts by immigration minister to block transfer of a child
The federal court has again forced Peter Dutton to transfer a dangerously sick
child from Nauru to Australia for treatment, dismissing
arguments from the immigration minister’s representatives that the girl wasn’t
seriously ill.
On Thursday the federal court’s Justice Robertson
ordered an adolescent girl be transferred to Sydney for urgent medical care,
accompanied by a family member.
“The applicant is at serious risk of permanent
complications from her current medical situation and [I] find that the applicant
appears to be at imminent risk to her health, both in the short term and in the
long term,” wrote Robertson in his judgement.
“It follows that I do not accept the submission on
behalf of the minister that the applicant has not shown sufficient evidence of
the seriousness of her medical condition or sufficient urgency in terms of the
treatment for her medical condition.”
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre confirmed the girl
is now in Australia with a family member, and is receiving medical
treatment.
The girl’s case joins more than a dozen attempts by
the home affairs department to block the medical transfer of a child, attempts
that have failed at or shortly prior to federal
court action.
“Despite their clear duty of care for people in
offshore detention, the Australian government continues to fight in the courts
to deny children the medical care they so desperately need, even when their
lives are at grave and imminent risk,” the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre’s
Natasha Blucher said.
“They are going to extreme lengths to play politics with childrens’
lives and it needs to end immediately.”
In early July, the child self-harmed and was eating
and drinking very little, prompting hospitalisation. She was diagnosed with a
severe major depressive disorder and pervasive refusal syndrome – a rare but
serious child psychiatric disorder, also referred to as resignation syndrome,
which has been documented at high rates among asylum seeker
children, especially in Sweden.
“A child in this condition, if not treated, will
develop severe dehydration, renal failure and malnutrition … Other complications
include pneumonia, other infections, pressure sores and contractures,” said Prof
Louise Newman in one of the medical reports presented to the court.
“The long-term risks of harm relate to the degree of
metabolic compromise and organ failure and the duration of the unresponsive
state.”
While the minister’s legal representatives also
produced medical evidence from a qualified mental health nurse and a
psychiatrist, Robertson ruled it was less persuasive.
He said the evidence in favour of the girl’s transfer
was more specific to her case, “more reasoned and given by apparently more
senior and experienced practitioners in the relevant field”.
The department’s evidence came from an IHMS
psychiatrist who determined “no clear evidence for a depressive illness”, with
her symptoms “more likely to be a severe reaction to her situation”, but did
agree there was no suitable place in Nauru for treatment if her health
deteriorated.
The girl was represented by the National Justice
Project, and principal solicitor George Newhouse has accused federal bureaucrats
of “interfering in medical decisions”.
“You’re getting recommendations from doctors on
Nauru, in the immigration detention in Australia and on Manus Island, that are
being ignored and overruled by bureaucrats who are not qualified to make these
decisions and are putting people’s lives at risk,” he told Radio National on
Tuesday.
“We’ve run cases for about 12 kids who are at
imminent risk of harm or even death on Nauru and we’ve had to argue every single
time in court that the Australian government has a duty of care to these people.
It’s a lie, it’s a myth to suggest that we don’t; but the government persists
with it.”
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