Australia has signed a new agreement with Nauru to maintain offshore processing of asylum seekers indefinitely, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from refugee advocates and former detainees. The deal, announced by Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews on Friday, establishes what Nauru's president called an 'enduring form' of offshore processing on the island nation.
Under the policy, all asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat face mandatory indefinite detention and processing offshore. Currently, about 108 people are held on Nauru, most for over eight years, while 125 remain in Papua New Guinea. No one has been sent offshore since 2014, and Nauru is now Australia's only remaining offshore detention centre after the Manus Island facility was shut down in 2016.
Minister Andrews stated the agreement was a 'significant step forwards' and reaffirmed that 'there is zero chance of settlement in Australia for anyone who arrives illegally by boat.' She added that anyone attempting an illegal maritime journey would be turned back or taken to Nauru for processing. Nauru President Lionel Aingimea said the mechanisms are ready to deal with illegal migrants immediately upon arrival.
The offshore processing policy has faced sustained criticism from the United Nations, human rights groups, and refugees. The UN has said it violates the convention against torture, and the International Criminal Court's prosecutor described indefinite detention offshore as 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.' At least 12 people have died in the camps, including from murder, medical neglect, and suicide. Psychiatrists have described conditions as 'inherently toxic' and akin to 'torture.'
Former detainee Myo Win, a Rohingyan refugee released from Nauru in March 2021, expressed distress: 'They are just so tired, separated from family, having politics played with their lives... They should not be extending anything, they should be stopping offshore processing now.' Jana Favero from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre called the deal an extension of a 'failed system,' saying it means 'enduring suffering, enduring family separation, enduring uncertainty, enduring harm and Australia's enduring shame.'
