Human rights advocates condemn Albanese Government’s dangerous Nauru deportations

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) strongly opposes the Australian Government’s decision yesterday to deport members of the NZYQ cohort to Nauru. This move sets a dangerous precedent, raising serious concerns about human rights and fairness.

The announcement, made to the media yesterday by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is based on the three brutal bills that were passed by the ALP with Coalition support late last year. The new laws not only pave the way for deportations, but also expand the Minister’s powers to overturn someone’s protection finding.

These powers, and the move to deport people, are in sharp contrast to recent national polling which found that the majority of voters do not want to send people seeking asylum back to dangerous situations, or to pay other countries to take people seeking asylum currently in Australia.

Jana Favero, ASRC Deputy CEO, said:

“The Government’s actions send a clear message that if you are not born in this country, you will never be treated equally.

“To see this play out in the media, possibly just before an election is called, sets a dangerous precedent and raises serious questions about the fairness of these actions.

“There has to be consideration of the lawfulness of banishing people offshore, when they’ve been living as part of our community – it’s a complete disregard of people’s human rights. To send people to Nauru is a life sentence and we are considering all options including legal challenges and will continue to fight for people’s rights”.

The ASRC calls on the Government to immediately halt these transfers and uphold its commitment to human rights and equality for everyone before the law.

An ASRC policy brief about Nauru offshore detention is available here.

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