Should doctors boycott working in Australia's immigration detention centres?

In The BMJ this week, two experts debate whether doctors should boycott working in Australia's immigration detention centres. Dr David Berger at Broome Hospital in Western Australia, argues that however compassionate their intentions, " doctors who treat people who have been tortured and then acquiesce in the continuation of torture themselves are supporting torture. " On the other hand, Professor Steven Miles, Chair of Bioethics at the University of Minnesota, says these egregious circumstances " do not justify a boycott that would further isolate internees from adequate care. " Since 2015's Border Force Act, healthcare professionals have risked imprisonment by speaking out about appalling conditions in centres that have been likened to gulags and concentration camps, explains Berger. Last month, the president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) finally denounced Australia's appalling treatment of asylum seekers, calling it " state-sanctioned child abuse. "