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in which to deal with sensitive issues.
b
Tempers also often flare on the water line, especially when there is a water shortage, and at food distributions, especially when much of the food is bad. Minor disputes become further aggravated by the presence of a curious and idle crowd.
As a result of the low morale and depressing atmosphere, alcoholism is becoming a problem. Some detainees are distilling their own spirits to use and sell. The use of these homemade liquors make tempers even shorter, leading to unnecessary fighting and squirmishes. Camp management remains ineffective in eliminating clandestine distillation.
When the camp allows detainees to go to another section, they are excited or simply glad to be out of their own gate, even though all they will see is more of the same barbed wire and fences. Other asylum seekers, on the other hand, say they get more depressed when they look at all the sections spread out below because there seems to be no alternative, no way out, only one prison, Hong Kong or Vietnam.
Other effects of the setting include physical health problems. It is especially hot in Section 10 in the summer, when the temperature has reached 41-43 degrees Celsius (105-110 degrees Fahrenheit) in the romney huts. Water is cut off for many hours. Toilets under management control do not get flushed enough. The sewage system is often blocked due to its poorly planned structure, apathy and lack of community responsibility. Poor hygiene and diet lead to many illnesses that persist because conditions remain
unhealthy. The three-tier bunks where detainees live also constitute a safety hazard as many children have fallen off and hurt themselves, even with the safety nets that some parents install.
Medical service is also difficult to obtain. Each section can only see the doctor for half a day, either morning or afternoon. Access to Family Planning has also been limited. Since the summer this year, there is one clinic per two sections every other week; there was even less service before. Therefore, it is difficult for all the women who want contraception to obtain it. Women, especially single women, also say that they feel quite intimidated by the Family Planning team when they do secure an appointment. Meanwhile, the media and Hong Kong hospitals constantly blame the Vietnamese women for overcrowding their facilities.
As with other centres, Whitehead also has a communication problem between medical staff and patients. The staff never informs asylum seekers of the progress of their illnesses. As an example, a baby was admitted to the hospital for scabies and died a few weeks later. The mother was never kept informed of when or how her child got seriously ill. She suspected gross negligence because on the occasions that she was able to visit her child, she found it left wet, purple cold and hungry. She was also concerned that it may have been affected by the tear gas the Police used some time before which caused the baby to foam at the mouth and turn purple.
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