https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/mackay-doctor-fights-for-children-on-nauru/3594442/ AS A doctor and new mother, Dr Elizabeth Weissman's passion for children's health and rights is evident to behold. The 28-year-old Anaesthetics Registrar at Mackay Base Hospital has been an active advocate for children in detention on Nauru Island; playing a role in the campaign of doctors around the nation to have all children removed from the controversial detention centre and resettled in Australia. Dr Weissman said what is impacting these children is the indefinite future they have been presented with, contributing to deficiencies in their psychological health. "If you have a violent criminal, they go to jail and they know how long they're going to be there,” Dr Weissman said. "The kids on Nauru are sent there without any knowledge of when they get out and it's that that's killing them off. In October this year, almost 6000 doctors signed a letter addressed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanding the removal of the 119 children on Nauru Island at the time.
According to Dr Weissman over 100 have now been sent to Australia, however the 'on-shore detention' these children are placed in concerns doctors they may be sent back to Nauru. She described the turmoil these children suffer as 'resignation syndrome,' and the affliction is about losing hope. Dr Weissman said that, ultimately, the resettlement of these children in Australia is the campaign's overarching objective, and doctors are concerned that without permanent settlement they may be sent back to Nauru. "That's what we're fighting against and that's possibly what will happen if we don't stand up as a community and do something about this,” Dr Weissman said. "Even though they're in Australia they don't have any prospects, so we don't have a resolution until they're settled, and they very well could be sent back. "The treatment for resignation syndrome is to have a future, and until the children are settled they don't have a future.” Last week, Independent Member for Wentworth Kerryn Phelps flagged the Urgent Medical Attention Bill to provide doctors with more authority over the removal of children on Nauru. The Bill requires support from all of the crossbench, Labor and one MP from the Federal Government. A resident of the Dawson electorate under her married name Simonian, Dr Weissman said she wrote to federal member George Christensen prior to the proposed Bill in the hope the issue would be supported in parliament. However, Mr Christensen was adamant he would not support the Bill, and said the it was the firm view of the government that attempts to enter the country illegally would never result in resettlement. "My firm view, and the government's firm view, is if you try to enter Australia illegally... you will never settle in Australia,” Mr Christensen said. "If we change from that then it's open slather; we will have illegal boat arrivals happening again, the people smuggling business out of Indonesia sparking up again, and uncontrolled borders that will end up costing the country dearly - not only in cash but also in social cohesion issues and in terms of national security. "There is no way shape or form that I'm going to support any Bill or any measure that weakens our border security.” Having thrown her support behind the movement, Dr Weissman was adamant that medical professionals needed a more definitive role in deciding the fate of children seeking asylum. "The government says that the point is to stop the people smuggling trade, and if the people smugglers are the criminals and we're trying to save lives at sea, it's a complete juxtaposition to what we have now,” Dr Weissman said. "In my opinion, if you're saving lives at sea, those same lives that would have been lost are now being locked up in an off-shore prison... what lives have we saved? "We haven't targeted the actual criminals which is the people smugglers we've locked up the victims of a crime.”
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AuthorA selection of my general news content. My main round was health, however I frequently covered weather, crime, politics and general human interest. Archives
January 2020
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