October 20, 2016

Island of despair

editor:	Murat Suner

As fairplanet reported in 2014, asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat are being processed offshore, even though refugees are entitled to protection in Australia under international law.

According to Amnesty International, Australia's current policy does exactly that: "No person who arrives in the country by boat seeking asylum can ever settle in Australia."

Instead, anyone who arrives by boat is forcibly taken to offshore “Refugee Processing Centres”, one of which is on the remote Pacific island of Nauru – basically an open air prison for refugees.

But, after being deported to this tiny island, the cruelty continues. Based on months of research, including interviews with more than 100 people in Nauru and Australia the human rights organization has released the report Island of Despair: Australia's 'processing of refugees'. It exposes the government of Australia’s policy of “processing” refugees and asylum-seekers on Nauru for what it is: "a deliberate and systematic regime of neglect and cruelty."

Anna Neistat, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, one of the few people who managed to enter the remote and secretive island to investigate human rights abuses, describes the situation:

“On Nauru, the Australian government runs an open-air prison designed to inflict as much suffering as necessary to stop some of the world’s most vulnerable people from trying to find safety in Australia.”

De facto, the Australian government has isolated refugees - women, men and children, often in bad health, which is even worsened due to local circumstances on the island - in a remote place which they cannot leave. The sufferance of these vulnerable people is - if not intended - at least accepted by the government.

It is a shame that a country like Australia that owes so much to refugees is blatantly violating international law.

As one of 144 states in total, Australia had signed the Refugee Convention in 1951. The convention defines the term ‘refugee’ and outlines the rights of the displaced, as well as the legal obligations of States to protect them.

The Refugee Convention is the legal basis of the UNHCR – Australia, a country of refugees and immigrants, should abide by this and refrain from encouraging other countries to do the same.