First asylum seekers brought to Australia from Manus Island, Nauru under medevac law granted visas'
Two asylum seekers brought to Australia for medical treatment under the now-repealed medevac legislation have been freed from detention.
They are believed to be the first of nearly 200 refugees and asylum seekers transported off Manus Island and Nauru for medical treatment under that law to be granted visas to legally reside in Australia.
The medevac amendment to the Migration Act was passed by Parliament against the Government's wishes in February 2019. It was repealed nine months later in December of that year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-11/ ... s/12969536Before the medevac legislation passed and while it was in force, the Government argued it undermined its control over Australia's borders.
The law allowed refugees and asylum seekers from Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and Nauru to be brought to Australia for treatment if it was recommended by a medical panel.
"Someone who's a paedophile, who's a rapist, who has committed murder — any of these other crimes — can just be moved on the say-so of a couple of doctors on Skype," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in February 2019.
And so it begins.