MSF ordered off Nauru
by Xavier Symons | 13 Oct 2018 |
The international medical aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres has been abruptly ordered off the Pacific island of Nauru where it was providing mental health services to asylum seekers detained by Australian authorities.
Nauru is home to a large Australian refugee processing centre that has been the centre of intense political scrutiny in recent years, with the indefinite detention of families and reports of substandard facilities leading Amnesty International to label it a “horror”.
The Nauruan government informed the MSF representatives last Friday that their services were no longer required, giving them just 24 hours to vacate the premises. MSF says that it is “deeply concerned” for the wellbeing of detainees in the facility, and called the decision to terminate the contract “grossly irresponsible”.
On Thursday the organisation issued a forceful statement calling for all refugees to be immediately evacuated from the island. “[There is] nothing humanitarian about saving people from sea only to leave them in an open-air prison”, the organisation said.
At least 78 patients on Nauru had considered or attempted suicide or self harm, according to MSF representatives.
The Nauruan government hit back on Friday, arguing that MSF had come to Nauru under the guise of health care only to engage in “political activism”.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Being a good editor requires a certain personality type: someone persnickety, obsessive, hawk-eyed and meticulous. Not being that sort of person myself, I can still appreciate their virtues. A good editor fusses about capitalisation, proper usage, consistent spelling, and the Oxford comma and loses sleep over knaves who cannot distinguish between “discrete” and “discreet”.
But there is one point on which the good editor and I agree: the enormity of writing “normalcy” when one means “normality”. I recently read in a not-to-be-named journal, “As the boundaries between human and ‘the other’, technological, biological and environmental, are eroded and perceptions of normalcy are challenged...” No. No. No. No. The word is “normality”.
The virus of “normalcy” has spread like a particularly pernicious strain of influenza through the media. A quick Google search brings up: “Nikki Haley's Departure Is Shocking Because Of Its Normalcy” and “Anger Recedes as Normalcy, Good Humor Mark Kavanaugh’s First Day on Supreme Court”.
Do you know who put “normalcy” on the map, so to speak? Warren G. Harding, who succeeded Woodrow Wilson in the White House. In 1920 the slogan of his campaign was “a return to normalcy”. The word should have died with his reputation as the worst of American presidents.
Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. And please don’t get me started on the misuse of “enormity” for “enormousness”.
But there is one point on which the good editor and I agree: the enormity of writing “normalcy” when one means “normality”. I recently read in a not-to-be-named journal, “As the boundaries between human and ‘the other’, technological, biological and environmental, are eroded and perceptions of normalcy are challenged...” No. No. No. No. The word is “normality”.
The virus of “normalcy” has spread like a particularly pernicious strain of influenza through the media. A quick Google search brings up: “Nikki Haley's Departure Is Shocking Because Of Its Normalcy” and “Anger Recedes as Normalcy, Good Humor Mark Kavanaugh’s First Day on Supreme Court”.
Do you know who put “normalcy” on the map, so to speak? Warren G. Harding, who succeeded Woodrow Wilson in the White House. In 1920 the slogan of his campaign was “a return to normalcy”. The word should have died with his reputation as the worst of American presidents.
Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. And please don’t get me started on the misuse of “enormity” for “enormousness”.
 Michael Cook Editor BioEdge |  |  |  |
NEWS THIS WEEK
by Michael Cook | Oct 13, 2018
Chinese researchers create healthy mice from same-sex mothers by Michael Cook | Oct 13, 2018
'Forensic geneology' is of great interest to police by Michael Cook | Oct 13, 2018
A patent for a biometric trolley raises questions by Michael Cook | Oct 13, 2018
The Journal of Posthuman Studies examines trans and post-humanism by Xavier Symons | Oct 13, 2018
Some argue it's about conscience; others say it's about real issues. by Xavier Symons | Oct 13, 2018
Hundreds of tonnes of waste, including human body parts, had accumulated. by Xavier Symons | Oct 13, 2018
The State Supreme Court said that the death penalty was 'racially biased'by Xavier Symons | Oct 13, 2018
MSF has called for the immediate evacuation of asylum seekers from the islandBioEdge
Suite 12A, Level 2 | 5 George St | North Strathfield NSW 2137 | Australia
Phone: +61 2 8005 8605
Mobile: 0422-691-615
.png)
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario