CALL TO ACTION
Urgent dental care required
BR4R has been contacted by advocate Dawn Barrington, on behalf of Zahid H., a 33 year-old man from Pakistan recognised as a refugee. He has been held in off-shore detention since July 2013. Following medical evacuation, he was then sent to BITA. From there Zahid was sent to the Melbourne Park Hotel where he remains. He has not received any dental care since his toothache started in 2015.
Zahid’s teeth have thinned, and his gums receded. Chewing food causes terrible pain. Drinking hot or cold water makes his gums bleed. Due to the lack of medical care Zahid lives with depression, stress, persistent toothache, headache sand anxiety, and lack of sleep.
Since November 2019, Zahid has pleaded with the Federal government contracted private health service IHMS to let him access specialist care. He has been told the treatment is too expensive. He has offered to self-fund private treatment. IHMS has refused to approve this. The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne is 300m away from where Zahid is living in the Park Hotel. It provides free specialist dental care for refugees and asylum seekers in the community. There is no clear reason why Zahid has not been released into community as others from the same hotel have been. Whilst still in detention, Zahid is denied access to this medical treatment.
Zahid is recognised as a refugee, so should not be discriminated against being granted the freedom to live in our community. Zahid desperately needs to be released from detention into the community so he can access his specialist dental care.
Zahid needs your help. His condition is deteriorating, and he suffers constant gum pain, inflammation and sensitivity, and severe toothache with pain radiating into his head.
Please write to the Home Affairs Minister, Karen Andrews, demanding immediate dental and medical care and/or release for Zahid H. He is one of the few left in Hotel Detention so is easily identifiable by Home Affairs.
NOTE: Zahid has asked that we do not circulate his details on social media. Please respect his request. He has approved us circulating this notice to BR4R contacts.
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