Australia plans to deport 3 violent criminals to Nauru

Sharjah 24: Rights groups denounced an Australian plan to send three violent foreign criminals, including a murderer, to live in the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru. The three criminals would be held in immigration detention until they are put on a flight to Nauru or a legal challenge is lodged.

Australian capital, Canberra, said it had paid an undisclosed sum to Nauru in return for it issuing 30-year visas to the trio, who lost their Australian visas due to criminal activity.

Freer life

"When somebody has come and treated Australia in a way that has shown appalling character their visas do get cancelled, and when their visas are cancelled they should leave," stated Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. "All three, though, are violent offenders. One is a murderer," he said. Once in Nauru, they would live in individual dwellings with a shared kitchen space and be allowed to work and move freely, Burke added.

Authorities have not disclosed the identities, gender or nationalities of the trio, or said whether they had served sentences for their crimes.

Nauru

Nauru is one of the world's smallest countries with a mainland measuring just 20 square kilometers and a population of 13,000. Phosphate mining once made Nauru one of the world's richest countries per capita, but that boon has long dried up, leaving much of the mainland a barren moonscape and its people facing high unemployment and health issues.

Australia's government has been searching for a way to deal with migrants who have no other country to go to when their visas are cancelled.

Ensuring humane solution

The High Court ruled in 2023 that indefinite detention was "unlawful" if deportation was not an option, leading to the release of 220 people in that situation, including the three now destined for Nauru.

Refugee Council of Australia head Paul Power said the government had a duty to ensure any solution was humane and ensured people's rights and dignity. "History has shown us the deep mental and physical damage indefinite detention on Nauru has caused," he said.

Under a hardline policy introduced in 2012, Australia sent thousands of migrants attempting to reach the country by boat to "offshore processing" centres. They were held in two detention centres, one on Nauru and another, since shuttered, on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island. The scheme was gradually scaled back following 14 detainee deaths, multiple suicide attempts, and at least six referrals to the International Criminal Court.

According to latest Australian government figures, Nauru still held 87 people as of August 31, 2024.