Ednews informs via Al-jazeera that the last refugee held on the Pacific island of Nauru under Australia’s notorious offshore detention policy has been evacuated to Australia, according to refugee advocacy groups.
The man arrived in Australia on Saturday night, after the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, which was elected in 2022, said it would end a policy in place for more than 10 years.
“Over the past decade, our government stood by and witnessed abuse, assault, neglect, harm and suffering in offshore detention,” Jana Favero, director of advocacy at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said in a statement on Sunday. “Men, women and children sought safety and protection, yet we banished them simply for the sake of politics. We are thankful that the Albanese government has taken action and evacuated the last remaining refugees from Nauru. One chapter of misery is over.”
Australia resumed sending refugees to Nauru in 2013 under a previously abandoned offshore detention policy that was said to be necessary to stop people travelling to Australia in small boats. Such arrivals, who were also detained in Papua New Guinea (PNG), were told they would never have the right to settle in Australia even if they were found to have a valid claim for protection.
Refugee groups say some 3,127 people were sent to Nauru and PNG with many suffering mental and physical health problems as a result of their prolonged detention and separation from family. The policy was widely condemned by refugee advocates, rights groups and the United Nations.
Some families forcibly separated under the scheme have taken their cases to the UN.
