Nauru Crisis Continues: One Medivac, Three More Families Fly

Nauru Crisis Continues: One Medivac, Three More Families Fly to Australia
Refugee Action Coalition
MEDIA RELEASE

A pregnant Iranian refugee and her husband have been taken by air ambulance from Nauru to Australia today, Wednesday, 24 October. (The nature of the medical emergency is not known.)

Following the medivac, three more refugee families, two Iranian and one Bangladeshi) were also flown from Nauru to Australia today, as the medical emergency on Nauru shows no sign of moderating.

At least two children are included among the three families being evacuated.

“It is urgent that Labor commits to supporting Andrew Wilkie’s bill (supported by The Greens) to bring all children and their families from Nauru to Australia,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

“Peter Dutton told parliament yesterday that the government wants to get the number of children on Nauru ‘to zero’. He has the power to do that, but instead is insisting that legal cases are prepared one by one as he tries to delay the inevitable.

“Labor could make the transfers happen. The government has rejected their concessions over New Zealand. Now, Labor can make a real difference and get behind the bill to bring the children and their families to Australia.”

DUTTON DOES A TRUMP

Meanwhile Peter Dutton has found desperate new excuses to try and justify why some children won’t be shifted from Nauru.

Just as US President has identified “bad people” among the refugee caravan making its way to the US-Mexico border as an excuse to exclude people, Peter Dutton has just discovered that 13 children who are part of families rejected by US on security grounds.

But there is no reason that the US decisions prevent Peter Dutton bringing those families to Australia; in fact it makes it imperative that the government acts to bring all the asylum seekers and refugees to Australia.

“Dutton has admitted that hundreds of people have been rejected by the US deal, the vast majority because of Trump’s travel ban on Muslim countries. Peter Dutton has some explaining to do. The ‘security grounds’ could well be the excuse the Trump administration has given to bar some refugees from the US.

“Instead of accepting 1250 refugees; the US has taken just 450. The US deal is almost finished,” said Rintoul, “Hundreds of asylum seekers and refugees on Manus and Nauru are stranded on prison islands.”

A rally in Sydney, this Saturday 27 October (2pm , Hyde Park) called by the Refugee Action Coalition: “Kids Off, Everyone Off – close Nauru, close Manus” will call for all asylum seekers and refugees to be brought to Australia.

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