ALHR Voices Concern About ‘Brain Dead’ Asylum Seeker
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights is deeply concerned by reports this week that inadequate medical care in immigration detention facilities on Manus Island has left Iranian man, Hamid Kehazaei, brain dead after an infected cut to his foot led to septicaemia.
The right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of all people, including access to medical care, is protected by key international instruments, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the latter of which Australia has ratified.
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights strongly criticizes the Government for transferring asylum seekers to offshore processing facilities where there is overwhelming evidence that mental illness is rife and living conditions are poor. It calls on the Australian Government to immediately conduct a full and transparent inquiry into the adequacy of health care, both physical and psychological, of asylum seekers in onshore and offshore immigration detention facilities.