Cover up and neglect: Visa delay caused Hamid’s death

Shocking new evidence from medical records on Manus Island has hit the media, showing that medical negligence and inadequate medical care directly caused the death of Hamid Kehazaei in August. There is evidence that political interference delayed his transfer from Manus Island. Scott Morrison needs to answer directly for his death.

The young man was already very ill, and deteriorating, before finally receiving, on August 23, the medical attention he’d requested. For the next two days Kehazaei’s condition ‘worsened considerably’, according to his medical report.

Medical staff on the island finally recommended to the Immigration Department that he be ‘urgently transferred’ to Port Moresby rather than continue to receive inadequate treatment on Manus. But it didn’t happen, for over 24 hours.

The ‘plan to transfer the patient the previous day “never came to fruition due to delay/visa requirements, so the patient spent another night”’ on Manus Island, Tuesday’s Australian reported, quoting hospital records.

The newspaper obtained IHMS medical documents that ‘show that the federal government was aware Kehazaei’s condition could be “life threatening”’.

By the time Kehazaei arrived in Port Moresby it was too late. He suffered a heart attack, and was transferred Brisbane’s Mater Hospital the next day. His Iranian family agreed to turn off his life support when he was confirmed ‘brain dead’.

Australian Medical Association federal councillor Richard Kidd told the media medical staff failed to use the correct anti-biotics recommended by PNG health guidelines. If they had he would likely have survived.

Did he have to die? The answer has to be ‘no’. If the Immigration Department had been both competent and compassionate someone would have ensured that a visa was immediately available on hearing of the transfer recommendation. Or had the necessity for a visa waived altogether.

It would have ensured that the medical treatment offered on Manus in the first place was of a standard appropriate to the cramped, dangerous conditions that prevail there, to the detriment of detainees’ health, both physical and psychological.

Infections and skin diseases are rife among the 1056 asylum seekers on Manus Island. In addition to the extreme humidity, broken toilets mean asylum seekers are forced to walk through raw sewerage, often barefoot.

If the current situation is allowed to continue more deaths are inevitable. Manus Island must be closed now.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison’s claim that Kehazaei received ‘outstanding treatment’ was blown out of the water by The Australian’s report. He explicitly denied Hamid had been mistreated, but the IHMS reports clearly show that he was.

Once again, Morrison has lied to the public. The ultimate responsibility for Hamid’s death lies with the Minister. He must resign.

Read more from our press release or at The Guardian, ABC or The Australian

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