The health crisis in offshore detention

A group of people standing on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra. They're facing the camera and holding signs that read things like "Evacuate PNG" and "Health crisis".

It was in a watershed moment six years ago that a “coalition of consciousness” passed the historic Medevac Bill to ensure doctors, not politicians, would determine when and how people subjected to offshore detention would receive urgent medical treatment. 

For people who were trapped on Manus Island and Nauru, it was literally a life saving moment, allowing them to access urgent medical care in Australia that they otherwise would’ve gone without. 

But six years on after the eventual abolishment of the Medevac legislation, 39 people still remain abandoned in PNG with no way to access the care they need. More than one in five of them are facing life-threatening conditions. Meanwhile, more than 100 people are being detained on Nauru with worsening physical and mental health. 

Now, doctors and human rights organisations, including the ASRC and Amnesty International, are backing a new Medevac Bill introduced in Parliament. 

Call on the Albanese Government to urgently evacuate everyone to safety and close this shameful chapter for good.

Read the ASRC’s report: 'Cruelty by design: the health crisis in offshore detention'

ADD YOUR NAME

We call on the Albanese Government to immediately evacuate all people seeking asylum, refugees, and their families from PNG and Nauru. 

They must be brought to Australia for urgent medical care and the resettlement of refugees must be prioritised.

Signed,

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