Nauru may consider returning refugees from the NZYQ cohort to their countries of origin, according to the Nauruan president in a recently translated interview from February.
This interview has generated months-long dispute, with inaccurate assertions that those transferred to the island were not refugees and could be returned to their home nations where feasible.
Refugee Status Verified
It has been confirmed that members of the cohort in question have had their asylum applications accepted by Australia. Some of the men currently on the island to Nauru are among those who are refugees.
An initial account of the president's remarks was earlier disclosed, and entire text was entered into official records by senators recently.
Translation Dispute
The translation presented was not the official translation, but an independently sourced interpretation obtained by a human rights group.
Officials has repeatedly opposed publication of its own translation of the discussion, including obtaining a non-publication order in the federal court.
Addressing a official request to produce the official translation, the top diplomat argued that its disclosure would “prejudice Australia’s international relations … and our wider reputation in the region.”
Forced Removals and International Law
Five or more individuals of the group in question have been involuntarily transferred to Nauru and are being detained at a regional processing centre on the island nation.
Australia is required under international law to protect refugees under the refugees convention and cannot return them to their country of origin where they face a “credible threat of being targeted.”
Should that removal is made through a third country – including Nauru – it is illegal, known in global legal standards as “chain refoulement.”
Nauru is bound to the agreement.
President's Remarks
The president conducted the interview in February, addressing in his native tongue to a official, and outlining the recent deal Nauru had signed with Australia to host individuals of the NZYQ cohort.
This agreement will see Australia transfer money up to $2.5 billion over 30 years.
The president stated those sent to the island by authorities would remain in Nauru for a 30-year period.
“However, we, your government, discover a method for them to move around, for example; they get to go home,” he remarked. “Currently, the issue is unable to deport them, these people are what you would refer to as stateless. “Their countries of origin are unwilling to take them back and they do not have a way to return. And if in the future we identify a solution to send them back then naturally they will not complete the 30 years, but the document we are providing them to start is a 30-year visa.”
Sources indicate none of the individuals relocated under the arrangement to date are without citizenship.
Incorrect Claims
The president incorrectly claimed – incorrectly – that members of the group were not refugees.
“Let me be clear, these people are not refugees. They are common citizens but their background is that they have served prison sentences. “These days, they are free to roam around Australia and while they are no longer under penalties but they are not of that place and despite official intent to return them, they are unable to.”
Background on NZYQ Cohort
The NZYQ cohort is a group of 354 non-citizens freed from ongoing detention in Australia after a high court ruling in the end of last year.
Travel documents had been cancelled on “character grounds”, most as a result of a legal offense. The majority have finished a incarceration but cannot be returned to their home countries because they are threatened there. Some have been in Australia for many years and have family members who are citizens.
Legal and Ethical Objections
One senator remarked that the statement that the group were not refugees was “plainly wrong.”
“Could authorities have misled them? Might Australia have deceived the Nauruan government? Do they adhere to what the leader said about these people lacking asylum status? None of them refugees? “There could be embarrassment by the fact that President Adeang has made it abundantly clear he desires their deportation from the place of origin. We know that they have faced threats generally.”
The head of advocacy at a asylum seeker group said the lack of transparency around its offshore program was “very concerning.”
He said the secrecy and cover-ups eroded public trust, and misconduct thrived in the opacity of the offshore regime.
“The text shows that Nauru plans to send people back to their home nations ‘if they find a way’, despite the fact that these are people the government has not deported to their home nation because they are asylum seekers. This means the authorities has indirectly delegated forcible return – paying another country to do what the nation is prohibited from doing.”
He said the president's remarks – the release of which was opposed by the authorities – revealed a dangerous loophole.
“The government asserts it follows international law while discreetly compensating for people to be returned to harm via intermediary arrangements.”
The head of legal affairs of a advocacy group said the government had tried to hide “almost all aspects” of its agreement with Nauru.
“Recently discovered that the Nauruan government may not have any intention of fulfilling its part of this lamentable deal.”
She said the deportations to Nauru must be stopped, because the government could not guarantee people’s safety.
“Authorities is forcibly removing individuals from their lives, families and communities in the country and sending them away to a nation where they are obviously unwanted. Our government has been aware that it might be sending people to their fatal harm – through denial of the medical care they need to survive, or by sending them back to the countries they left due to persecution.”
Questions have been directed to the authorities and the island's administration.
