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    Why MSF Had To Stop Offering Mental Health Care To Refugees In Nauru

    Doctors Without Borders spent 11 months treating asylum seekers and refugees as well as locals. In early October, the government of the tiny island nation told them to shut down their operation.
    by Rachel D. Cohen Oct 12, 2018 3 minutes
    A 12-year-old Iranian refugee girl, who had tried to set herself on fire with petrol, rests in a bed in Nauru, where nearly 1,000 refugees and asylum seekers have been sent by the government of Australia.

    The government of Nauru, a tiny island nation in the South Pacific, and the charity Doctors Without Borders are in a bitter dispute over mental health care for asylum seekers and refugees.

    The controversy revolves around approximately 900 individuals sent to Nauru by the Australian government since 2013. They arrived in Australia by boat, coming from such countries as Iran, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Syria; the government sent them to Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Most of them have been there four years.

    "Let's be very, very clear. They're trapped on a rock in the middle of, MSF Australia's executive director, told NPR in a phone interview. These asylum seekers and refugees have no passports and few opportunities for education and work, he said. McPhun has also said there were instances of physical and sexual abuse among that population.

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