In Australia’s health professionals are doing a marvellous job at the front line of defence against Covid-19 and putting themselves at risk of infection.

They are true heroes, putting in everything to help others.

More than 1100 doctors, psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals have now put their names to a letter to minister responsible, Peter Dutton, demanding the immediate release of those locked up in Australia’s immigration centres.

There is good reason for releasing them. Lacking proper isolation from each other and many already existing health problems, makes the detained highly susceptible to infection. A humane response is to let them out of the centres and into community supported accommodation. This would slow the spread of the disease and protect the wider community in Australia.

Professor David Isaacs, a paediatric infectious diseases professor at the University of Sydney wrote the letter. In it he said that failure to make the release, “risks placing a greater burden on wider Australian society and the health care system.

“We call for the release of people seeking asylum and refugees in detention immediately into the community, as the correct measure to take from both a humanitarian and public health perspective.”

The use of detention centres and hotels used to house people from Manus Island and Nauru under the Medevac laws is adding to the community’s risk.

The situation was brought to light last month, after a security guard the Brisbane A Brisbane detention centre tested positive, sparking fears that the virus would spread throughout the facility.

Dutton and the federal government have so far refused to budge on the hard-line attitude, which has long underlined the treatment of people who arrive into Australia by boat.

The governments that have enacted this, are the same ones that have involved Australia’s participation in a range of wars, which have been the major cause, of the conditions that have led to refugees looking for asylum in places like Australia.

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Video from Guardian Australia

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The only life he’s known is guards shouting, steel fences, and unending detention on a tiny island the size of Melbourne’s airport. Where he’s called by a number, not even his name.

But today, I get to share his photo with you, and across the front pages of newspapers – to ask for your help uncovering a lie.

This appeal comes from a former teacher at Nauru, who personally witnessed the cruel treatment of children and now asks all who are concerned to help do something about it.

Former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said he had “every child out of detention”

1 But after 5 long years, there are still 119 children detained offshore on Nauru.

Journalists can’t reach them, and staff on Nauru sign agreements not to talk – but I taught these children, and I have watched the life slowly drain from their eyes. In 2014, Australian pediatricians said this detention constituted child abuse.

2 The conditions have only worsened since.

We know that with enough pressure, things can change. This year, Australian judges defied the Federal Government 14 times and evacuated children urgently from Nauru to Australia.3

So while our Government is trying to hide the 119 children remaining on Nauru – these photos are our chance to show the Australian public the truth. If enough of us speak out now, we can confront politicians with the faces and the stories of the children imprisoned on Nauru, and force them to act.

Will you join me and call on Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten to evacuate these children and their families to Australia before Universal Children’s Day on November 20?

No matter what your political view – the indefinite detention of children is astoundingly cruel.

As a teacher on Nauru, I saw the impacts of this policy. I watched a young girl, initially so eager to learn English and read Harry Potter, curl up in a corner of my classroom and cry uncontrollably for hours.

I saw children watch on, terrified as their parents were handcuffed with zip ties and assaulted, simply to attend medical appointments.

When Prime Minister Turnbull announced the US deal to resettle refugees there, I heard hope flower in the voices of these kids, but nearly 2 years later, only a handful of people have been moved to safety.

Despite being assessed as a refugee – this little boy is still waiting. How long can we do this to him?

So far, 157 children and their families have been brought to Australia from offshore detention on doctor’s orders.4 But 119 kids remain on Nauru, some never knowing a day of freedom in their lives.

A photo tells a thousand words. That’s why the ABC was banned from accessing Nauru5 – but the bravery of those imprisoned there means this country can now see the photos of the children detained in our name.

I can’t do this alone – so thank you for standing with me.

The post Appeal for the children in detention on Nauru appeared first on Fair Go For Pensioners.