Former commissioner of the Australian Border Force, Roman Quaedvlieg, admitted that the ABF has often obstructed genuine medical transfers required for asylum seekers on Nauru. Ongoing tension remains between the ABF and medical practitioners regarding medical transfers out of offshore processing, with the transfer of many critically ill patients being refused or delayed. These admissions come at a time when the Australian Government’s health contractor has deemed medical facilities on Nauru as unsafe for surgery.
In related news, 12-year old asylum seeker boy, Ali, released a series of videos from his tent in Nauru, describing his state of despair and the severe depression of his mother and brother. Doctors have recommended for over a year that Ali’s mother be transferred to Australia to seek urgent medical treatment, and concerns have also been raised about the mental health of Ali himself after several attempts at self-harm.
Indonesian fishermen rescued a boatload of 76 Rohingya refugees off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia. The refugees, fleeing Myanmar, claimed to be seeking to reach Australia.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Police, with assistance from Australian Federal Police, busted a complex people-smuggling network planning to transport fake Rohingya refugees to Australia. The three alleged people smugglers are said to be Rohingya, Bangladeshi and Indonesian, and had allegedly organised fake papers for six Bangladeshi men previously residing in Malaysia, with the papers stating they were Muslim Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
A political debate was sparked following proposals that the Australian War Memorial commemorate navy personnel involved in Operation Sovereign Borders, including those who were involved in the policy of boat turnbacks. Various Labor and Greens MPs have described the idea, proposed by the memorial’s director Brendan Nelson, as igniting culture wars on the sensitive topic of asylum seeker policy and politicising Australia’s armed forces.