First person arrives on Nauru triggering Australia’s $2.5bn deal with island nation | Australian immigration and asylum

Australia has embarked on a $2.5 billion deal with Nauru to evacuate more than 350 people from the NZYQ cohort after home affairs minister Tony Burke confirmed the first arrival had landed on the tiny Pacific island last week.

Burke said Nauruan officials confirmed the arrival on Friday. ABC reportsThe first annual installment of $408 million is triggered.

“When someone’s visa is revoked, they should leave,” Burke said in a statement.

No further information about the man’s condition or circumstances is known at this stage.

The agreement between Australia and Nauru is expected to last 30 years and will allow Australia to apply for a 30-year long-term visa on behalf of the group to ensure their deportation from the country.

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About $20 million of the first installment will be made immediately available to the Nauruan government to “facilitate resolution”, while the remaining $388 million will be transferred to a sovereign trust fund that is expected to include board members from both the Nauruan and Australian governments.

Nauru’s trust fund will receive an additional $70 million a year from Australia as part of the deal; this will total more than $2.5 billion over thirty years.

Details of the agreement remain confidential, subject to a claim of public interest immunity. But interior ministry officials claim that those sent to Nauru, many of whom have been identified as refugees, can live freely in society and cannot be sent to another country where they could face persecution in a situation known as chain repatriation.

Ministry officials had stated that a former regional processing center transferred to Nauru by Australia earlier this year could be used as temporary accommodation while the cohort is deployed. It is unknown in which state the headquarters is located.

The detailed text of the agreement allows Australia to “clawback” funds provided to the trust if Nauru fails to honor the agreement.

Burke claimed that nearly two dozen people released under the high court’s NZYQ ruling against indefinite detention have so far been granted visas. Guardian Australia is aware that at least eight people awaiting deportation have been re-detained.

Adnan*, from the NZYQ cohort, told Guardian Australia he had not heard of Nauru before he was re-detained by Australian Border Force officers during an overnight raid earlier this year.

“I thought there was something wrong. I hadn’t had a lawyer for years and I never really understood what was going on with my case,” he said through his lawyer.

“These days it’s like living in a nightmare. Since I came to Australia, I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve been punished for those mistakes. I’ve tried everything to put my life back together. I’m not a young man, I can’t keep rebuilding my life. I don’t know why Australia chose me for this terrible punishment.”

Laura John, deputy legal director of the Human Rights Law Center, accused the federal government of being “willing to completely disregard the fundamental rights of immigrants and refugees” in a process shrouded in secrecy.

“We don’t know if the deported person has left family behind in Australia, if he needs medical care not available on Nauru, or if he still has visa appeal options in Australia,” he said.

“This secrecy is not an accident. It is a deliberate tool used by the Albanian government to ensure that it does not have to grapple with the real, human consequences of its actions.

“Some of the people facing deportation to Nauru have spent most of their lives in Australia. Others are stateless and have no other homes. Some have serious health problems and are likely to die on Nauru. They have all already been punished two or three times by the government. They should not be subjected to a lifetime of suffering.”