As Nauru refugees are resettled, Albanese government must take responsibility for those abandoned in PNG

Reports that the last people remaining in Nauru under Australia's offshore detention policy would soon leave the island have been welcomed by the Human Rights Law Centre, with a warning that the same must be done for those languishing in Papua New Guinea.   

While the number of people remaining in Nauru continues to fall as a result of transfers to Australia and resettlement in in other countries, more than 80 people previously detained on Manus Island remain trapped in PNG, many with serious health problems caused by years of detention, isolation and medical neglect. Fourteen people have died while subject to offshore detention. More than one hundred people previously detained on Manus Island were abandoned in PNG when the former Coalition government announced the end of Australia’s involvement in offshore processing in the country at the end of 2021. 

While no new transfers to Nauru or PNG have occurred since 2014, the Albanese government has confirmed that it will maintain facilities for offshore processing in Nauru as a contingency.  

Scott Cosgriff, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre said:     

“Across more than a decade in Nauru and PNG, the Australian Government has inflicted untold suffering upon people merely asking for safety. Evacuating Nauru is the right thing to do. Anything less than the same approach in relation to PNG is a profound failure of people whose dire circumstances were caused by this policy and whose lives remain in the Australian Government's hands.  

“The Australian Government bears the same responsibility to the people it sent to PNG as to the people it sent to Nauru.
 
“Too often, the victims of this policy have been shunted from one agonizing limbo to another. Those now rebuilding their lives in Australia must be allowed to live in freedom, without crippling visa restrictions and with certainty about their future. 

“Every person sent to Nauru or PNG has lost years of their lives and been separated from loved ones because of the intentionally punitive policies of successive Australian governments. Uncertain visa status has been weaponised to further punish people who have been transferred, and compel them to accept resettlement in third countries or return home. It’s time for the Albanese government to take responsibility and ensure every person can rebuild their lives in safety and freedom.” 

Media contact:
Thomas Feng, Media and Communications Manager, 0431 285 275, thomas.feng@hrlc.org.au