Infant refugee at centre of Australian hospital protest gets reprieve

Australia said on Sunday a baby girl facing repatriation to an offshore immigration detention camp would go to an onshore facility instead, easing tension that peaked in a blockade outside a hospital where she is a patient. Doctors at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane had refused to release the one-year-old girl after completion of her treatment for serious burns, adding to pressure on the government over its tough asylum seeker policy. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the one-year-old girl known as Asha and her mother would be released into community detention in Australia. Protesters had blockaded the hospital to prevent the child being removed.

But at some point, if people have (asylum claim) matters finalised in Australia, then they will be returning to Nauru - that’s exactly the same treatment that we’ve applied equally.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton

Asha was flown last month from the Nauru centre, which houses more than 500 people, to Brisbane for hospital treatment. The facility has been widely criticised for harsh conditions and reports of systemic child abuse. Medics had cited a duty to ensure she was being released into a safe environment. Australia maintains a policy of sending asylum seekers who attempt to reach the country by boat to camps on Nauru or on Manus island in Papua New Guinea. They are not offered resettlement in Australia.

baby Asha