Australia requested to pay compensation for violating rights of asylum seekers in Nauru camps | EUROtoday

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

The United Nations Human Rights Committee discovered that Australia violated two provisions of the human rights treaty in circumstances involving 24 refugees and asylum seekers, together with minors, who have been detained whereas attempting to enter Australia by boat in 2013.

The asylum seekers, who got here from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, ended up struggling 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 stated.

After introducing a hardline immigration coverage over a decade in the past, Australia began sending asylum seekers intercepted at sea to detention camps on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island for “offshore processing” as a substitute of permitting them to dwell within the nation as refugees.

“The outsourcing of operations does not absolve states of accountability,” Mr El Haiba famous. “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 discovered Canberra violated two provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, one on arbitrary detention and the opposite on defending the best of refugees to problem their detention in court docket.

The ruling got here on a 2016 petition from a gaggle of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers who stated they have been 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 dominated on Thursday.

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

The committee, nonetheless, dominated that the Nauru camp counted as being inside Australia‘s jurisdiction, citing the country’s position in developing and financing it.

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

The lady, accompanied by members of the family, arrived by boat on Christmas Island in 2013 however was transferred seven months later to Nauru.

She was not launched regardless of being recognised as a refugee by Nauru in 2017. She was transferred to Australia a 12 months later for medical causes however remained in detention.

The UN committee referred to as on Australia to offer compensation to the victims and requested it to make sure related violations didn’t occur once more.

A spokesperson for Australia‘s Department of Home Affairs stated in an announcement it was partaking 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 division stated in an announcement.

“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, both by homicide by guards or suicide or medical neglect, in accordance with human rights organisations.

Human Rights Watch has stated Australia forcibly transferred greater than 3,000 asylum seekers to the camps the place they suffered extreme abuse, inhumane therapy, and medical neglect.

Australia’s coverage of detaining asylum seekers offshore is widespread with voters. Its authorities claims that they’re handled with dignity, equity and respect and given entry to a spread of help providers.

Additional reporting by businesses.