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Who is responsible for asylum seekers on Manus? Terrifying Evacuation.

There has been an earthquake in the Pacific which has killed people in the Solomom Islands. I heard on the news that there was a tsunami warning for PNG. It did cross my mind to wonder if the Australian, PNG or Nauruan governments had given any thought to the extra responsibility of caring for asylum seekers if a natural disaster should occur on Manus Island in PNG or Nauru.

The Long Journey To Manus

Asylum seekers have welcomed the court action to have the Manus Island centre declared unconstitutional. Detainees told NM contributing editor Wendy Bacon about being forcibly removed to PNG.

Kids Facing Despair On Manus

NM's contributing editor Wendy Bacon is in contact with inmates on Manus Island. The news is not good. An atmosphere of despair prevails at the centre and children are being exposed to self harm.

Australian government risks lives of Sri Lankan asylum seekers

Yesterday, in a dramatic backdown, the Australian government agreed to allow 56 Tamils asylum seekers who were due to be deported to Sri Lanka to make applications to be granted asylum as refugees. Today, the Australian government is once again planning to deport another group of Tamils who have been subject to a "screening out" process which denies them the right to proceed with a a full refugee application.

Australian psychiatrists speak out against Pacific Solution 2

On November 30, New Matilda published a report by Adam Brereton and myself  which included the comments of Professor of Developmental Psychiatry Dr Louise Newman who explained  how detention centres like the ones on Nauru and Manus Island produce feeling of abandonment, despair and psychiatric disorders. On the same day, Dr Michael Dudley is Chairperson of the Suicide Australia Prevention Board since 2001 spoke at a protest rally outside the Federal Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek’s office. As he spoke scores of asylum seekers detained by the Australian government on the Pacific island nation of Nauru were on hunger strike with one, Omid laying critically ill in a small Nauru hospital after refusing food for 50 days. A few hours later he was taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Brisbane.

Nauru's 'Explosive Situation'

A former adviser to the federal government on mental health in detention has slammed Labor's immigration policy. Louise Newman says the majority of asylum seekers on Nauru will develop psychiatric disorders.

Nauru Asylum Seekers Protest Delays

Yesterday more than 200 asylum seekers on Nauru held a protest to demand the Australian government start processing their applications for asylum - and close down the camp, reports Wendy Bacon.

The Three Waves Of Nauru Anguish

Is Nauru the answer to the political impasse over asylum seekers? We must not forget the brutal realities of detention on Nauru and the trauma associated with it. Wendy Bacon continues her timeline.

Breaking through Nauru amnesia

In June, the Australian parliament debated refugee policy proposal put forward in a private member's bill by Independent member Rob Oakshott which if passed would have meant asylum seekers arriving by boat would be sent to  Malaysia or to the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru, which had played  a key role in the notorious Howard government's  Pacific Solution.

Our Nauru Amnesia

Nauru is back on the agenda. Have we already forgotten the Howard years? Wendy Bacon has delved into the archive to recover a blighted history. Part one of NM's Pacific Solution timeline today.