No values (Christian or otherwise) in evidence

We all know that there is an ongoing issue around the world how best to address the problem of asylum seekers.

Australia has taken an especially harsh approach - most of which is contrary to international law. The country also has a new PM and Immigration Minister, both of whom are quick to highlight their values, Christian and otherwise. If they do have the values they espouse, they are clearly not evident in the absolutely disgraceful situation detailed below. They, and their Government, stand roundly and loudly condemned!

"An asylum seeker who was moved off Nauru to give birth is being locked up for 18 hours a day in a detention centre in Brisbane while her week-old baby remains in hospital.

The case of Latifa, a 31-year-old woman of the persecuted Rohingya people of Myanmar, has shocked churches and refugee advocates. She was separated from her baby on Sunday, four days after a caesarean delivery, and has since been allowed to visit him only between 10am and 4pm in Brisbane's Mater Hospital.

The boy, named Farus, has respiratory problems and needs constant medical care.
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Latifa is confined to the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation, 20 minutes away, where her husband and two children, four and seven, are being held.

Latifa's husband, Niza, is not allowed to visit the child at all, according to people in daily contact with the family.

Misha Coleman, a qualified midwife and executive officer of the Churches Refugee Taskforce, said the separation of mother and child marked a worrying development in the government's hardline asylum seeker policy. ''As a midwife this is the most diabolical situation for a mother and a newborn one could imagine,'' she said."

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