The Nauru Government has expelled the medical personnel from the refugee camps housed by Australia on the island. Nauru Government Condemns Mentally Traumatized Individuals to Life-long Anguish – A bad decision to be reversed by Rene Wadlow The Government of Nauru, the small Pacific island State, has expelled the medical and psychological personnel of the international non-governmental organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The Government gave no explanation for its actions, but relations with the NGO have been difficult in the 11 months that MSF has been working there. It is likely that the Government feared international attention to the prison-like conditions in which refugees and asylum seekers were kept. The Australian Government in 2013 created camps on Nauru to house asylum seekers who were trying to reach Australia by boat. Nauru uses Australian money its national currency, receives the bulk of its financing as aid from the Australian Government and the bulk of its products come from Australia. Thus refusing orders from Australia is difficult. Currently, there are some 900 refugees on Nauru, of which 100 are children, in different camps which have been described as “open-air prisons”. Children are often kept separately from their parents. The MSF has been providing mental health care, as there are no independent psychological services on the island. Many refugees suffer from depression and a feeling of hopelessness. 78 people have attempted suicide. Individuals have suffered trauma in their home country and during the sea journey. This is particularly true of children and young adults. As president of an international child welfare NGO, I was responsible for mental health efforts for traumatized children and youth in Cambodia and Croatia suffering from the impact of war and in Bangladesh suffering from the loss of homes and families due to natural catastrophes (flooding). Sever cases of childhood...

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