3.4.3. Hospital Delivery Linked to Deportation

The government policy to report undocumented migrants to the police has resulted in incidents of women being detained immediately after delivery. Participants explained that conditions at detention centres are unsuitable for post-partum women and newborn babies. This interviewee explains that linking healthcare with deportation is a human rights violation.

*"We had a case of a migrant worker [who] was admitted to the hospital due to deliver. Within less than 24 h, both mother and the baby were already at the XXX Detention Camp. We [the CSO] needed to get intervention from the Embassy. They shouldn't detain the baby inside there because there are not such facilities, and besides, the mother was still very fragile, and shouldn't be detained. The Immigration Department persisted with their decision but [with] expedited repatriation. The Indonesian embassy refused to bear the expenses [of repatriation], so we [the CSO] had to find money for them. Because, the Indonesian government also has certain [financial] constraints. This was actually a very challenging situation for us." IO-1*
