Refugees Call Off Hunger strike

Refugees Call Off Hunger strike

Hunger strikers on Nauru have called off their hunger-strike after leaning that their refugee status will be reassessed.

Te hunger-strikers expressed their “deeply felt appreciation” to the Nauruan government in giving permission for a medical team to visit the island and into the detention centre to conduct a medical assessment and independent review.

The hunger strikers will also restate their case to be re-assessed of their refugee status by UNHCR and the Australian government. They have asked IOM and DIMIA to prepare food so it can be ready for them.

The Australian newspaper The Age reported that Nauru had invited a delegation of doctors from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) to visit Nauru to help the hunger strikers.

The invitation for doctors to assist the asylum seekers came as Nauru's director of medical services, Kieren Keke, warned of a looming crisis in the provision of medical care for both asylum seekers and local Nauruans. He said Nauruan medical staff have done everything possible to coordinate the treatment of asylum seekers with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which operates the detention centre, but services were being stretched, The Age reported.

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