With about 40 per cent of the population of Nauru infected with COVID-19 and prices of food and water soaring, calls are growing for the refugees still detained on the tiny Pacific island to be flown to Australia.

The Melbourne-based Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has issued an urgent plea to evacuate the 112 refugees and asylum seekers still trapped there after more than nine years of detention who report a daily struggle to access food, water and medication.

Refugees on Nauru say they cannot afford fresh food and water on the island since prices skyrocketed.Credit:AP

A week ago, the organisation sent an “imminent risk notice” to International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), which provides medical care to detainees on Nauru, and the Australian Border Force, but has had no response.

“There is an urgent situation facing everyone who is still trapped offshore,” said the centre’s director, Jana Favero. “The living conditions are dire and compacted by COVID-19 and characterised by a lack of basic necessities.”

With coronavirus cases rising rapidly, Nauru has locked down. Prices for fresh food and bottled water on the island, which lacks a piped fresh water distribution system, are high.

One refugee, who asked not to be named, has been on Nauru for nearly 10 years. He remains confined to his room in one of the island’s camps and said he has been unable to access bottled water and medication for a fortnight.

“At the moment, it’s lockdown here. It’s been more than two weeks,” he said. “We don’t have [fresh] water; we drink sink water.”

Residents rely on desalination water, harvesting rain and groundwater, and buying bottled water. There have been complaints stretching back years about inadequate access to water for refugees, who say the water piped into the camps is salty and intended for showers rather than drinking.

Nauru, which has lost about 80 per cent of its surface land mass to phosphate mining, has a precarious food supply chain and relies on international freight for much of its food supply.

One supermarket was advertising packs of Woolworths-branded bottled water for $18.20, more than twice the price they are sold for in Australia.

Nauru President Lionel Aingimea has urged people to remain at home.Credit:AP

Casework co-ordinator Heidi Abdel-Raouf, who wrote the imminent risk notification, said refugees were reporting that water costs up to $20 a bottle and shops are charging $18 per kilogram for tomatoes, onions and eggplant. A kilogram of beef can cost up to $25.

Refugees and asylum seekers receive $200 a fortnight from Canstruct, a Brisbane-based company Australia contracted to run services at Nauru’s detention centre since 2012.

Desperate to slow the spread of the virus, Nauruan authorities have threatened people with fines of up to $10,000 for “walking around for non-essential reasons”, not wearing a mask, and gathering in groups of four or more.

Last year, Australia sent AstraZeneca vaccines to Nauru, where 97 per cent of the adult population had received two doses by July 31, 2021. But concerns remain about the impact of COVID-19 on the island, which has high rates of obesity and smoking and a health system with limited surge capacity.

Of the 10,873 Nauru residents, 4107 were infected with COVID-19 on Tuesday, Nauruan President Lionel Aingimea said in a statement.

“There have been many reports of people walking around without masks and leaving home isolation for non-essential reasons,” he said.

“Omicron is very contagious and is circulating fast in the community. We must work together to minimise the spread and to protect our vulnerable.”

During the current outbreak, one person has died from the virus.

Authorities have forced 476 households – containing 3786 people – to remain indoors.

IHMS has closed its office on the island, leaving 112 refugees and asylum seekers with little access to medical services. An IHMS spokesperson declined to comment, referring questions to the Department of Home Affairs.

Canstruct’s chief executive, Damien Cavanagh, did not return calls. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald also sought comment from Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, the Department of Home Affairs, the Nauru government’s humanitarian case manager and the Nauruan deputy consul-general.

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