What’s worse, as remote as Nauru is, it’s actually much closer than one might think—right-wing European politicians have been touting the “Australian model” of offshore asylum processing as a solution to the European refugee “crisis”. Under the same pretext of “saving lives,” European countries are already closing borders, striking deals with states, such as Turkey, that cannot offer refugees adequate protection, and outsourcing their responsibilities.

The latest detailed exposure of what this “Australian model” is like in reality, which has received extensive coverage in Europe, is significant. For hundreds of refugees in Australia’s offshore prisons, it brings renewed hope that Australia will finally fulfil its international obligations and allow them to settle in a place where they can get the assistance they need and the protection they deserve.

For Halimeh, it means she might still get vital surgery and treatment before it’s too late. And for any European state contemplating similar measures, it is a clear warning of just how wrong things go when fear and populist agendas are allowed to trample core humanitarian values and the international right to seek asylum.

This article first appeared in The Guardian.