There are too many do-gooders and sticky-beaks sneaking around Nauru trying to make brownie-points for their causes. We were told that water pours through the roof, soaking beds. Thom says,"we could see the water leaking under the tents and all the bedding getting wet,..." The bedding is on top of camp stretchers.
Also, I think our ADF personnel serving in foreign theatres, Afghanistan, in particular would disagree with Thom's assessment of "harsh" and "very hot conditions." Would accommodation at the "Four Seasons" suit Thom? What a goose!
On ABC 7:30. Dr Thom, how do you rate the conditions in Nauru?
GRAHAM THOM,
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: The conditions here are very harsh. Not just the
weather and the humidity, but also the confined environment that people
are being kept in, the very small tents, 14 people to a tent, in very
hot conditions. I think harsh is an understatement when it comes to
describing the conditions in the centre.
LEIGH SALES: Give us a little bit more detail about what the living conditions are actually like.
GRAHAM THOM: Well we have five rows of tents which - there is no grass there. It's all gravel. The surrounding environment is jungle, but very limited shade, so there are no trees inside the centre. People have to move to the edge just to get any relief from the heat. They can't stay in their tents during the day. It just becomes too hot. When it rains, when we were there, we could see the water leaking under the tents and all the bedding getting wet, so people sleeping in the damp and we had a number of the people there showing us skin diseases and rashes and things that were developing through the heat and the humidity and the damp. And there's really nothing for them to do. There's the Salvation Army's that's obviously doing its best in those conditions, but when there's not even a place to kick a ball 'cause if you fell over you'd get seriously cut up by the gravel, what can people do couped up in that environment for 24 hours a day?
LEIGH SALES: Give us a little bit more detail about what the living conditions are actually like.
GRAHAM THOM: Well we have five rows of tents which - there is no grass there. It's all gravel. The surrounding environment is jungle, but very limited shade, so there are no trees inside the centre. People have to move to the edge just to get any relief from the heat. They can't stay in their tents during the day. It just becomes too hot. When it rains, when we were there, we could see the water leaking under the tents and all the bedding getting wet, so people sleeping in the damp and we had a number of the people there showing us skin diseases and rashes and things that were developing through the heat and the humidity and the damp. And there's really nothing for them to do. There's the Salvation Army's that's obviously doing its best in those conditions, but when there's not even a place to kick a ball 'cause if you fell over you'd get seriously cut up by the gravel, what can people do couped up in that environment for 24 hours a day?
