Hundreds of asylum-seekers have been stranded on two Pacific islands for years.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to party supporters flanked by his wife, Jenny, and daughters Lily, right, and Abbey, after his opponent conceded in the federal election in Sydney on Sunday.
Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian-Kurdish journalist and writer who has been on Manus since 2013, told The Washington Post in a phone call that the election results brought a wave of despair to the island. He knows of at least 12 refugees who have attempted suicide in recent days, he said. CNN reported that the provincial police commander on Manus said two refugees attempted suicide this past weekend. Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday that at least four asylum seekers at the offshore centers had attempted suicide since Morrison’s government was reelected Saturday. Australian news outlet News.com.au reported that six people had attempted suicide since Sunday.
A spokesman for the Australian Department of Home Affairs said in an emailed statement that “it takes seriously its role in supporting” Papua New Guinea and Nauru to ensure individuals in both places are “provided with a range of health, welfare and support services arrangements.” Last year, legal and medical advocates working with children stranded on Nauru said a number of them had stopped eating and speaking, symptoms of resignation syndrome. In October, when Doctors Without Borders was banned from working on Nauru, the group said that at least 78 people under their care had considered suicide, “engaged in self-harm or attempted suicide.
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