Migrant baby in Australia to be sent to Nauru
February 22, 2016
Australia said on Sunday it would return the 1-year-old daughter of Nepalese asylum-seekers back to the notorious island camp where the country houses many migrants.
Asha was brought to Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane last month, and doctors subsequently refused to discharge her, knowing she would be sent back to Nauru.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the baby had been released and was currently living with her parents in government housing. However, the government still intends to send the family to Nauru.
No easy ticket into Australia
"We are not going to allow the message to get out that people can come to Nauru, come to Australia for medical assistance, and that will be their ticket out into Australian society - that is not going to happen," Dutton said in an interview with Nine Network television.
"She's in community detention and obviously support will be provided to the family," he added. Community detention refers to government-provided accommodations.
The standoff between the government and the doctors in Brisbane briefly turned people's attention to Australia's controversial immigration policies, under which asylum-seekers and other migrants are forced to live on Papua New Guinea or Nauru.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protestors demonstrated in front of the hospital in support of Asha and her doctors.
blc/bw (AP, AFP)