Australia deports first foreign detainees to Nauru in controversial deal
Australia has begun deporting foreign detainees to Nauru, marking the beginning of a controversial agreement with the small Pacific island nation.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed on Tuesday that “the first transfer took place last Friday” but it is not known how many people have been deported.
The agreement forced them to be released into the community after Australia’s high court ruled that it could not indefinitely detain about 358 people, most of whom had been convicted of crimes.
Human rights groups have criticized the deal, which is expected to cost A$2.5 billion (£1.64 billion; $1.23 billion).
The Australian government has repeatedly refused to disclose details of the deal for the so-called NZYQ cohort, and refugee advocates say it contravenes the country’s human rights obligations.
Laura John, of the Human Rights Law Centre, told SBS News the plans had been “shrouded in secrecy from the beginning”.
“We do not know whether the deported person left his family behind in Australia, whether he needs medical care not available on Nauru, or whether he still has visa appeal options in Australia.”
The NZYQ cohort refers to a group of prisoners who are subsequently released into Australian society. A landmark Supreme Court decision in 2023 found that the government’s authority to keep them in immigration detention indefinitely was unlawful.
Many had been convicted of serious crimes such as assault, drug trafficking and murder, leading to their Australian visas being cancelled.
The Australian government found itself in a difficult situation – unable to repatriate former detainees for fear of persecution or because their governments would not accept them – but it also faced significant public backlash over their release.
Last year, the government under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese strengthened powers to deport non-citizens by making changes to the Immigration Act in a move critics described as “draconian”.
This included paying third countries to pick up deportees from Australia.
Australia has turned to Nauru, and under the agreement concluded earlier this year, deportees are granted a 30-year visa that allows them to work on the island and mix freely with its 12,500 residents.
The first transfer triggers a down payment of AU$408 million for the group’s relocation to Nauru.
Other than these details, little is known about the agreement.
“People are being secretly sent to Nauru and key aspects of the deal are still being hidden from the Australian public,” Green party immigration spokesman David Shoebridge told Australian media.
Shoebridge, who criticized the lack of transparency in the plan and the “humiliating silence” of Minister Tony Burke, also expressed concerns that deportees could be sent back to their home countries when they arrive on Nauru.
“No matter who you are, no matter where you were born, governments cannot eliminate you or send you against your will to a country with which you have no connections,” he said.
Burke defended the agreement. I’m telling the Australian Broadcasting Corporation He inspected accommodation and health facilities on Nauru and said “standards there were good”.
Burke has previously said: “When someone comes and treats Australians appallingly, their visa is cancelled, and when their visa is cancelled, they have to leave.”
This agreement is separate from the arrangement under which Nauru operates Australia’s offshore immigration processing regime. This system was scaled back following international condemnation over how detainees were treated and housed.
