Asylum staff hit by mental health crisis
But asylum seekers are “fine”was Scott Morrison’s response to the UNHRC report We must admit the report didn’t focus on his staff. We always knew Nurse Ratchett was under stress.
“one female employee attempting to take her life and a male considered at serious risk of self-harm.”
“The two Serco employees, whose distress was prompted by prolonged exposure to depressed and self-harming asylum seekers, have been flown to the mainland.”
The asylum seekers they were exposed to remained in detention because they were “fine”
the two employees had been ”on constant”, meaning they were required to prevent asylum seekers on suicide watch from self-harming for the duration of their 12-hour shifts. ”It really does their heads in because they’re watching people trying to kill or harm themselves all the time,” one insider told Fairfax Media.
”The pressure of being with clients, at arm’s length, for 12 hours a shift with no relief and seeing slashings and attempted hangings is taking a toll,” said another.
Eric Abetz called it minor histrionics, Tony Abbott moral blackmail and Morrison bullshit. The rest of the world has called it inhumane.Last month the Australian Human Rights Commission and a team of medical experts described a ”mental health crisis” on the island, confirming multiple suicide attempts and self-harm incidents.
A Serco spokes-person said “we have a range of measures in place to support them.”
If they wound up in the hands of Kevin Andrews they would be deemed “episodic” taken off a DSP which takes 2 years to get and placed on New Start. Andrews has a history of compassion over his years as a minister.Scott Morrison dreams of ways he could get these asylum seekers out of detention to Cambodia declare them resettled and abrogate all responsibility for them. Resettlement after all doesn’t say first world does it.
olddogthoughts 