My sister lost her mind, and Australia lost its heart - National - www.smh.com.au
Chris Rau, the sister of Cornelia Rau, or also known as 'Anna' has spoken out about incarceration of her sister at Baxter Detention Centre. She says:
Which brings us to the shameful double standard Cornelia's case illustrates. While she was an unnamed illegal immigrant, the only treatment she received for mental illness was longer periods in lock-up as punishment for bad behavior. From the information coming out of Baxter, the lock-ups led to a worsening of her condition and worse behavior.
Yet, magic! As soon as she became an Australian resident she was whisked away to a teaching hospital, seen by consultant psychiatrists and medicated. During which leg of her flight from Baxter to Adelaide did she suddenly gain the basic human right to medical treatment?
Over the years we have heard of immigration detainees being denied access to psychiatric care, some with horrific mental illnesses and suicidal tendencies. How many cases like Cornelia's will it take until they receive the care they deserve, or more importantly, are taken out of conditions which in themselves lead to mental illnesses?
This asks a lot of questions, ones the government seems to try to evade. They won't issue an apology and defend their actions saying she spoke German so she must be German. Is that the stupidest thing anyone could say let alone someone running our country. They also said that they're own psychological analysis found that she was mentally ill, but other detainees and advocates saw her sitting in the dirt, eating it and saying how she wanted to die. It is a disgrace to be Australian when the only way we can publicize the atrocities of our government is by having one of our own locked up.
