6Minutes Gallery

Med students march to end offshore detention

Future doctors want independent medical experts to visit the camps
10th April 2018

Hundreds of medical students marched through Sydney’s streets on Sunday to demand an end to Australia’s offshore detention policy.

Holding placards saying “Detention harms health” and “I stand with refugees”, the students called on the Federal Government to allow an independent body of medical experts to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the healthcare needs of asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru.

"As future doctors, we are deeply concerned for the health of all asylum-seekers in offshore detention," student RJ Seastres told 6minutes.

"There is simply no transparency from the Australian government about the health of these men and nothing to reassure us that they are receiving appropriate medical service.

"Beyond this being a basic human right, it is Australia's legal responsibility to provide this care," says Mr Seastres, a representative of the Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA).

The march was organised by AMSA Crossing Borders and the AMSA Global Health Project to advocate for refugee and asylum-seeker health, in conjunction with the NSW Medical Students' Council.

Images by Alex Cui.

Asylum-seeker advocate Amanda Perram tweeted a message of thanks from Aziz, an asylum-seeker in detention.

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