<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/14/australia-to-transport-last-asylum-seekers-off-nauru-within-weeks-refugees-say>
"The Australian government is expected to move all remaining refugees and
asylum seekers off Nauru by the end of the month, more than a decade after
offshore processing restarted on the Pacific Island nation.
But Australia will retain an “enduring” capacity for offshore detention on the
island indefinitely.
Three asylum seekers – two of whom are among about a dozen left on Nauru, and a
third who was flown to Brisbane last week – say they were informed of the
government’s intention to transport all remaining refugees on the island to
Australia by 30 June.
In recent months, there have been regular transfers of asylum seekers from
Nauru to hotel detention in Australia, according to the Asylum Seeker Resource
Centre (ASRC) and Refugee Action Coalition, both of which are expecting
detainees to be cleared from the island by the end of the month. From hotel
detention, most are being granted bridging visas and encouraged to find jobs,
they say.
The Howard government began offshore processing in Nauru in 2001, after the
Tampa crisis. The practice was stopped in 2007 by the newly elected Labor
government, after reports of abusive conditions, overcrowded tents, and a
shortage of water, and then restarted in 2012 – again by a Labor government.
Sabir Khan, a Pakistani man on Nauru, said he was told the government wanted to
move all refugees off the island by 30 June.
But after more than a decade in detention, he fears being transported to
Australia without the promise of resettlement would result in further
uncertainty.
“I was 25 when I left. I’m now 36 … my daughter [in Pakistan] is 12 years old,”
he told
Guardian Australia.
“It’s been 10 years of bad health, no freedom and promises broken.”
Nazim Ali, another Pakistani man on Nauru who has spent a decade in detention,
has been told he will be transferred to Australia in the coming weeks. But he
says the news is bittersweet.
“The Australian government used me for political benefits. It’s like I’ve been
kept in the zoo … and they’re going to release me after I get old mentally and
physically,” he said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
