Australia asked to pay compensation for violating rights of asylum seekers in Nauru camps

UN watchdog finds refugees and asylum seekers suffered deterioration of physical and mental health in offshore detention camps

Australia violated the human rights of asylum seekers by detaining them on the remote Pacific island of Nauru, a UN panel has ruled, asking the country to pay compensation.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee found that Australia violated two provisions of the human rights treaty in cases involving 24 refugees and asylum seekers, including minors, who were detained while trying to enter Australia by boat in 2013.

The asylum seekers, who came from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, ended up suffering years of arbitrary detention.

“A state party cannot escape its human rights responsibility when outsourcing asylum processing to another state,” committee member Mahjoub El Haiba said.

After introducing a hardline immigration policy over a decade ago, Australia started sending asylum seekers intercepted at sea to detention camps on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island for “offshore processing” instead of allowing them to live in the country as refugees.

“The outsourcing of operations does not absolve states of accountability,” Mr El Haiba noted. “Offshore detention facilities are not human rights free zones for the state party, which remains bound by the provisions of the covenant.”

The UN panel found Canberra violated two provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, one on arbitrary detention and the other on protecting the right of refugees to challenge their detention in court.

The ruling came on a 2016 petition from a group of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers who said they were held in an overcrowded detention centre “with insufficient water supply and sanitation, high temperatures and humidity as well as inadequate healthcare”.

“Almost all of these minors have suffered from deterioration of physical and mental wellbeing, including self-harm, depression, kidney problems, insomnia, headaches, memory problems and weight loss,” the committee ruled on Thursday.

Australia had argued there was no proof the alleged violations occurred within its jurisdiction.

The committee, however, ruled that the Nauru camp counted as being within Australia‘s jurisdiction, citing the country’s role in constructing and financing it.

In a second case evaluated by the committee, it found an Iranian refugee held in a Nauru camp had also been subjected to arbitrary detention.

The woman, accompanied by family members, arrived by boat on Christmas Island in 2013 but was transferred seven months later to Nauru.

She was not released despite being recognised as a refugee by Nauru in 2017. She was transferred to Australia a year later for medical reasons but remained in detention.

The UN committee called on Australia to provide compensation to the victims and asked it to ensure similar violations did not happen again.

A spokesperson for Australia‘s Department of Home Affairs said in a statement it was engaging with the UN on the complaints.

"It has been the Australian Government’s consistent position that Australia does not exercise effective control over regional processing centres," the department said in a statement.

"We welcome Nauru’s continued partnership in the effective delivery of regional processing arrangements."

At least 12 refugees and asylum seekers have died in Australian immigration detention centres on Manus and Nauru, either by murder by guards or suicide or medical neglect, according to human rights organisations.

Human Rights Watch has said Australia forcibly transferred more than 3,000 asylum seekers to the camps where they suffered severe abuse, inhumane treatment, and medical neglect.

Australia’s policy of detaining asylum seekers offshore is popular with voters. Its government claims that they are treated with dignity, fairness and respect and given access to a range of support services.

Additional reporting by agencies.