The state of civic space in Naoero (formerly Nauru) is rated as ‘obstructed’. Concerns documented in recent years include restrictions on media freedom due to prohibitively high visa fees for foreign journalists to visit the country. Very few journalists have been able to access the country to report on human rights issues such as the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. Further, Naoero has not yet ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
David Adeang, president of Naoero, used a UN gathering of world leaders in September 2026 to announce his country’s voluntary withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Amnesty International said the move could put Naoero out of step with many of its regional partners and risk weakening human rights protections. The Parliamentarians for Global Action said the withdrawal risks weakening the Pacific region’s collective voice on international justice and the protection of human rights for its people and future generations.
Association
Secret agreement on refugees made public by Australia
In September 2026, the secret agreement was revealed between Naoero and Australia to deport more than 350 refugees and asylum seekers to Naoero, known as the “NZYQ cohort”. This arrangement applies to individuals who have no lawful right to remain in Australia but whose removal from the country faces practical or legal obstacles.
Shrouded in secrecy, both governments have been hesitant to release the deal, offering details in bite-sized pieces over the course of 2025.
As per the agreement, signed in August 2025, Naoero is under obligations that can be sidestepped only in consultation with Australia. Under the terms, Naoero is only able to unilaterally refuse a “proposed person” under exceptional circumstances, accepting them “without any reservation in relation to age, past offences, health conditions or other characteristics”. If somebody is declined, it has to be due to “a serious and immediate risk to the public health or national security” of the country.
Concerns have long been raised about the treatment of detainees on the island. In 2016, the Nauru files, published by Guardian Australia, exposed the Naoero detention centre’s own internal reports of systemic violence, rape, sexual abuse, self-harm and child abuse in offshore detention.
Further, Naoero, not being a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, has no legal obligation to provide safety, resettlement assistance or basic protections for these individuals.
As previously documented, there are also concerns that asylum seekers being detained in Naoero are being denied access to freedom of expression and to receive and impart information. Humanitarian websites are blocked on shared computers, and refugees are only given limited phone credit to make outgoing calls.
In January 2025, the UN Human Rights Committee highlighted the major human rights violations in Naoero and ruled that Australia must take responsibility for people seeking asylum who are re-directed to Naoero.
Food crisis worsens for refugees after power blackouts
The Refugee Action Coalition Sydney said that asylum seekers at the Budapest camp on Naoero are facing a severe food shortage after being forced to dispose of food following the second power blackout at their camp.
Power failed on 28th July 2026 at the Budapest camp. Then on 6th August, the camp was left without power for over nine hours, after power failed around 1pm. Food stored in fridges quickly spoiled in the Naoero heat.
The loss of food has created an immediate crisis for the Budapest camp. Most asylum seekers there were eating one meal a day because they were unable to afford to buy food on Naoero. The situation has been made worse by the fact that neither rice nor flour have been available on Naoero.
One asylum seeker told the Refugee Action Coalition, “Now I can’t eat anything. Our food has been spoiled here. When the electricity goes out for one or two days, the food is spoiled. We do not have enough money to buy more. This is not a human life.”
The Refugee Action Coalition said: “The unbearable conditions on Naoero are part of a deliberate deterrence strategy by the Australian and Naoero governments trying to drive asylum seekers to return home.”
