Critically ill refugee child on hunger strike flown from Nauru to Australia with family
The 12-year-old boy, who had been held on the island since he was eight, weighs just 36kg and is so weakened he cannot stand up or sit
A 12-year-old refugee on Nauru who has refused all food and medical treatment for more than 20 days was moved to Australia on Tuesday with his whole family.
M was taken from Nauru by air ambulance with his mother, stepfather and sister. The Australian Border Force initially refused to move M with his family, insisting they be separated, with his stepfather to stay on the island.
However, after M refused to leave without his family, and after several failed attempts to move him, first on commercial flights, and then by air ambulance, the border force acquiesced and allowed the whole family to travel.
On-island sources told Guardian Australia that M was gravely ill and would have died within days without medical intervention. A medical assessment conducted on Sunday said M was “reaching a critical time”.
“He is now at day 19 of food refusal,” his doctor wrote. “Likewise apart from sips of water and the … dextrose solution that he was given, he has not had any significant oral hydration. His last bowel motion was 15+ days ago and he rarely passes dribbles of urine painfully.”