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AUSTRALIA-NAURU-REFUGEE-IMMIGRATION-CHILDREN
Australia to move Nauru asylum kids by year’s end
SYDNEY, Nov 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Australia will move all asylum-seeker
children off the Pacific island of Nauru by the end of the year, officials
said Thursday, but rights groups have called for the government to end the
“in limbo” status that accompanies them and their families.
Under a harsh policy meant to deter asylum-seekers from reaching Australia
by boat, Canberra sends arrivals to remote Pacific camps on Nauru and Papua
New Guinea’s Manus Island for processing, barring them from ever resettling
in Australia.
But the government has been “quietly” transferring children off Nauru, amid
a public outcry and mounting concerns for their welfare.
“There are hardly any children in Nauru and [Papua] New Guinea and we
expect that by the end of this year there will be none,” Australia’s high
commissioner (ambassador) in London George Brandis told British talkback
radio station LBC Thursday.
Hundreds of children have been moved from Nauru to Australia for treatment
in the past few years, accompanied by their families.
They are scattered throughout the country under varying restrictions —
some in onshore detention, some in the community with limited working and
education rights — but none are allowed the opportunity to be settled.
“Once people have received their medical assistance, then the expectation
is that they will return to their country of origin,” Home Affairs Minister
Peter Dutton said Thursday when asked about children being moved to
Australia.
– ‘Still in limbo’ –
But rights groups have slammed the government for the “in limbo” status of
those bought to Australia, saying Canberra is not offering genuine options.
“They (families) aren’t given visas, they are basically held in community
detention until their issues (treatment) are resolved, and some of them are
actually being held in fenced detention centres,” George Newhouse of the
National Justice Project told reporters Thursday.
“Even when you bring them to Australia, if you leave families with a sense
of uncertainty, it is going to be very difficult for the children to
recover,” he added.
The Australian newspaper on Thursday quoted government sources saying there
were 40 children remaining at processing centres on Nauru and they would be
transferred to Australia by the end of the year.
The decision comes amid a string of reports by non-governmental groups and
the media of abuse, depression and suicides on Nauru.
A recent poll commissioned by Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph — a tabloid that
usually supports the right-leaning government — found 79 percent of
Australians surveyed want children and their families transferred off Nauru.
Ahead of a crucial Sydney by-election last month, Prime Minister Scott
Morrison flirted with the idea of allowing some refugees to be transferred to
New Zealand, although they would still be blocked from entering Australia.
– ‘Respect for Nauru’ –
On Thursday, he claimed criticism of poor living conditions among the
would-be asylum seekers was offensive to the people of Nauru.
“I think people need to be very respectful of our neighbours in Nauru.
Because it’s where their children live, this is where they go to school, this
is where they have businesses, this is where they have their lives.”
The migrants forcibly settled there are from countries as diverse as Iran
and Myanmar.
Under a deal with former US president Barack Obama, 439 people of a
potential 1,250 have so far been resettled from Manus and Nauru to the United
States.
But more than 600 remain on Nauru, while refugee support groups say some
600 men are still in transition centres on Manus after the camp there was
closed late last year.
Canberra has long boasted its hardline policy is discouraging asylum
seekers from embarking on dangerous sea voyages.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1421 HRS