Pregnant Refugee With Life-Threatening Illness Will (Finally) Be Brought to Australia

A pregnant refugee will be flown to Australia to give birth, after a month of lobbying by doctors, lawyers and advocacy groups.

According to the Guardian, the Kuwaiti refugee is 36 weeks pregnant and appears to be suffering from a condition known as pre-eclampsia. She’s previously had a miscarriage on Nauru.

It was previously thought the woman would receive a caesarean-section on Nauru. However, the island’s health department received word on Thursday that she has been given permission to undergo the complicated birth in Australia.

“Nauru has no control over decisions by Australia on who to transfer,” a department spokesperson told the Guardian. “Within the last 30 minutes we have received confirmation from Australia that the patient will be airlifted and this is expected to happen tomorrow.”

The decision appears to have been driven by intense lobbying—both public and private—within Australia. Doctors for Refugees says at least five obstetricians had reviewed the woman’s case notes and recommended she be urgently transferred to a hospital with appropriate medical facilities.

It’s believed the Australian government had initially resisted calls to transfer the woman to Australia. It claimed Nauru had “comprehensive medical support services”. However, the island-country of 10,000 people has limited medical facilities and only one small hospital.

Photo: Facebook (@doctors4refugees)