Nauru asylum seeker waited three months for tests after shadow found in throat scan
|
Version 0 of 1. A female asylum seeker on Nauru who was unable to eat solid foods due to throat pain spent three months without receiving further health testing after a shadow was found in an ultrasound scan, a former detention worker has alleged. New submissions lodged to a Senate inquiry that is investigating serious allegations and conditions at the Nauru detention facility by three unnamed workers on the island have detailed further concerns about medical treatment and sexual assaults. In one submission a case manager at the centre wrote that the poor levels of medical treatment available at the centre directly contributed to asylum seekers’ mental health and wellbeing deteriorating. It detailed one incident where a female asylum seeker began experiencing throat pain and was unable to swallow solid foods. An ultrasound was performed by International Health and Medical Services that revealed a shadow which required further tests using a camera down her throat. When she was later taken to the Nauru hospital – known as Ron hospital – she was unable to be treated. “She was scheduled twice to go to the Ron hospital and turned up for her appointments, to be told that they were unable to do the testing due to parts not available for the equipment,” the submission said. “This asylum seeker went about three months without having access to food that was easy to swallow such as soup, yoghurt, soft fruit, and relied on her husband to sneak food out of the mess when there was food available for her to eat. Many emails were sent to appropriate stakeholders regarding her issue with food and accessing food appropriate for her to eat, with no outcome.” It added that her mental health faced a drastic decline, and the woman feared making a complaint because she was worried that medical treatment may be withheld. The case manager wrote that “asylum seekers often discussed how they did not feel safe in their accommodation and feared being watched in their room by other stakeholders or asylum seekers”. The staff member reiterated concerns outlined by former integrity commissioner Philip Moss in his review into allegations at the centre, and said that asylum seekers feared giving information to staff “and would not complain because they might be targeted”. A second former senior Save the Children staff member who worked predominantly with unaccompanied minors on the island said violence against refugees on the island was “100% foreseeable”, and that the immigration department had been aware of attacks on private contractors on the island. “Over the course of my time in Nauru, several foreign workers were attacked by Nauruan locals whilst visiting the community, including a female staff member of one stakeholder organisation who was seriously assaulted whilst going for a run. Other foreign workers were attacked while returning to OPC1 accommodation after a meal at a restaurant,” the submission said. The incidents led to the immigration department advising that all staff remain in pairs when outside the detention facility. “Despite this, DIBP saw fit to send vulnerable single women, men and unaccompanied children into the community, when it was well known that sections of the community would be hostile towards them.” A third submission from an anonymous staff member said that during their time on the island two employees, one male and one female, were both sexually assaulted by Nauruans. The Senate inquiry heard in May from the private contractors at the centre, Transfield Services, Wilson Security and Save the Children. Transfield were unable to answer a series of basic questions about their operations on the island, and face being recalled to the inquiry. The immigration department is set to appear at a later date before the committee. |