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UN decision on Australia’s human rights breaches a decade in the making
A legal centre’s decade-long fight to secure justice for children detained on Nauru has paid off with a landmark United Nations decision.
Naomi Neilson
Late last week, the United Nations Human Rights Committee found Australia breached its human rights responsibilities between 2013 and 2014 by detaining minors who fled persecution in their home countries.
The 24 children from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar were intercepted at sea and placed in mandatory immigration detention on Christmas Island for between two and 12 months.
Australia then transferred the children to Nauru, where they all suffered from deterioration of physical and mental wellbeing, the UN said.
Sarah Dale, centre director and principal solicitor at the Refugee Advice & Casework Service (RACS), said the legal centre has been fighting for this decision, “against all odds, for almost a decade”.
“The UN’s ruling recognises the suffering of the young people who lost their childhoods to Australia’s cruel immigration system,” Dale said.
“The Australian government must now respond by providing certainty and residency to these young people who, all these years later, remain in limbo, on bridging visas, despite being refugees owed protection.”
RACS lodged the complaint in January 2016 on behalf of the unaccompanied children and spent the next nine years gathering evidence, in hearings, and preparing submissions and correspondence.
Australia maintained it was not responsible for human rights breaches because any alleged abuse occurred on Nauru, but this was rejected.
UN committee member Mahjoub El Haiba said outsourcing of operations “does not absolve states of accountability”.
“Offshore detention facilities are not human-rights-free zones for the state party, which remains bound by the provisions of the covenant,” El Haiba said.
Aarash – the pseudonym of one of the affected children – said now that he is in his late 20s, the sight of young children “having fun, playing, going to school” has reminded him of “everything I lost”.
“Living under a tent for several years, that was hard too. One of the memories that will never go away from my mind. All of that caused me a big depression. There’s trauma every day, every second, not knowing what’s going to happen to us,” Aarash said.
RACS has called on the Australian government to compensate the children and provide permanent protection for those bridging visas.
Dale said the legal centre has “always carried a deep sadness” for those who fell victim to Australia’s offshore processing regime.
“For decades, we have remarked that this will be a stain on Australia’s history, and this decision is the critical record and recognition of that.
“We as a nation should be ashamed,” Dale said.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
