Nauru orders MSF to stop treating asylum seekers

WellINgToN: Nauru’s government has ordered Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to cease its work on the tiny Pacific island treating asylum seekers and locals suffering from mental health problems, the medical charity said.

The country has come under fire over the treatment of asylum seekers, including children, who are housed in Canberra-funded refugee detention camps under a controversial deal to prevent boat people from setting foot on Australian shores.

“The Nauruan government informed MSF that our services were ‘no longer required’ and requested that our activities cease within 24 hours,” an MSF spokesman said on Saturday.

Detainees say medical services in the camps are limited and habitually overwhelmed because so many inhabitants suffer from psychological illnesses.

A 2016 report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child cited “inhuman and degrading treatment” of minors in the camp, “including physical, psychological and sexual abuse”.

An MSF spokesman said the charity was “extremely concerned that the health of our patients may be affected by this decision and urge the authorities to grant us permission to continue our life-saving work”.

According to the MSF website, it has been providing psychological and psychiatric services on Nauru since late last year.