

Update:
By NADIA DALY and STEVEN SCHUBERT
Two heavily pregnant refugees who had refused to leave a bus for more than three days were intentionally left in the Northern Territory sun without air-conditioning and not brought food and water, advocates say.
After attempts to break the standoff failed, the women, both eight months pregnant, were removed with force and taken into detention, the Refugee Action Coalition says.
Spokesman Ian Rintoul said he had spoken with Adnam Shirvani, husband of Maryam, who is eight-months pregnant and father of 10-year-old Amir, who was also on the bus.
“The department deliberately, intentionally moved the bus to keep it in the sun,” Mr Rintoul said.
“They turned off the air-conditioning, allowing it to overheat. At one point both the pregnant women had fainted from the heat.”
Mr Rintoul also claimed the officials stopped bringing the refugees food and water, in an effort to get them off the bus.
“They said it was very obvious they were deliberately trying to force them off the bus.”
Mr Rintoul described the conditions on the bus as extraordinary.
“There’s legislation against keeping children or even animals in heated vehicles, so people can only imagine what kind of temperature it got to in the sun in Darwin,” he said.
Top Comments
It's about time Australia started looking after refugees properly. Let's allow these women into the community to have their babies safely and humanely. Then let's find them a home and a life her in a country where they can be safe.
Are they getting pregnant in an attempt to gain entry to Aust? Just wondering as the article says they have been in detention for 15 months. Surely you would try not to get pregnant under those conditions and knowing the uncertainly of the situation that you were bringing a child into?
Sam, pregnancy happens during war,famine and any other shit situation that people find themselves in. Sometimes it's due to contraception failure and sometimes contraception is not being used and although you take a risk by having sex and risking pregnant that intimate physical contact might be the only good thing in their lives. Would you abstain?