Nauru's move to open its detention centre makes it "more dangerous" for asylum seekers

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Nauru's move to open its detention centre makes it "more dangerous" for asylum seekers

By Tom Allard

For the Australian government, it appeared a serendipitous piece of timing.

Just days out from a High Court hearing on the constitutionality of Australia funding the detention of asylum seekers offshore, Nauru announced on Monday it was offering complete freedom of movement for the 650 asylum seekers sent there by Australia.

Despite the insistence of immigration minister Peter Dutton that Nauru's move was inevitable and the timing coincidental, the decision nonetheless formed a central plank of the government's legal defence.

Thanks to Nauru's action, the solicitor general Justin Gleeson SC told the court, the detention camp hosting the asylum seekers since 2012 could now be described as a "designated place of residence".

Asylum seekers on Nauru fear living in the community more than in detention.

Asylum seekers on Nauru fear living in the community more than in detention.Credit: Angela Wylie

"In no meaningful way could that be described as detention," he said.

Moreover, Gleeson added, this had a "dramatic effect" on the legal rights of the Bangladeshi mother who is the plaintiff before the court, one of some 200 asylum seekers processed offshore but temporarily housed in Australia due to medical and family reasons.

Asked directly from the bench if the Nauru announcement was linked to legal proceedings, Gleeson urged the court to consider only what was the public record.

"We know precious little more than that."

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The Welcome Refugees rally in Melbourne  last month.

The Welcome Refugees rally in Melbourne last month.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Gleeson's response lacked clarity and was cloaked in vagueness, like much of what happens on Nauru.

Nauru refuses to allow journalists to enter the country and workers in the refugee camps can't speak freely about conditions due to the threat of a two year prison term, prompting the UN to cancel a visit last month.

The tiny Pacific Island of Nauru.

The tiny Pacific Island of Nauru.Credit: Angela Wylie

Even so, it appears clear that many asylum seekers living outside the detention centres - as many of those found to be refugees already do - consider it more unpalatable than the fenced detention camp itself.

"They are more terrified about living out in the community in Nauru than in detention," says Abdiaziz Farah, a community leader in contact with some of the 86 Somalis on Nauru. "There is a huge sense of insecurity and the constant threat of sexual abuse. They describe it as living in constant fear."

Banks are closely scrutinising the High Court's late payment fee decision.

Banks are closely scrutinising the High Court's late payment fee decision. Credit: Chris Lane

Two Somali women have allegedly been raped while living outside the detention centre in the past few months. An Iranian woman walking outside the centre was also raped.

Some of the new accommodations outside the centre are unguarded and remote and there are reports of break-ins and regular sexual taunts and threats. Young men report being bashed, or having rocks thrown at them while riding motorbikes.

And in no instance has the Nauruan police charged locals for wrongdoing.

"These are people who have been through torture and trauma in their past. That's why they left. Now they are being traumatised all over again," says Farah.

"Najma", the 26 year old Somali woman who alleged she was raped by two men in August as she walked along a path at dusk, is a tragic case in point.

Her abduction and harrowing encounter with police recorded and broadcast on ABC TV's 7.30 program was just the latest torment in a lifetime of violence and suffering.

According to a signed statement sent to Fairfax Media, Najma - who has been found to be a genuine refugee - says she was kidnapped in Somalia as a 15 year old and held two years by a rival tribal warlord and repeatedly sexually abused. After falling pregnant, her stomach was punched to force an abortion.

She was rescued and married one of her saviours, who was from another kin group. Rejected by his family, Najma spent years living in fear. In the end, her husband was beheaded by his brother, a member of the al Qaeda-linked terrorist group al Shabab.

Peter Law, Nauru's former magistrate, says many Nauruans welcomed the asylum seekers when they first arrived. Grateful for the jobs and millions of dollars they would bring, there were soccer games arranged as well as other activities.

He says that changed dramatically after riots in July 2013 saw the main detention centre being burned to the ground amid violent clashes between asylum seekers and Nauruan police, who had been sent in to quash the turmoil.

"They were astounded when it burned down. They couldn't believe it," says Law. "They saw this as infrastructure that would one day be theirs, when the refugees eventually left."

Mr Law noted that at least in the detention centre, the Australian government had some control over security, which was provided by Wilson Security under contract to Transfield Services, which in turn was contracted to the Department of Immigration.

"Now, it's the 'open centre' approach, we don't have any control. All Australia can do is make representations," says Mr Law, who was expelled from the country last year along with Nauru's chief justice and government solicitor in a move that prompted New Zealand to cancel its funding of the country's judicial system.

David Adeang, Nauru's justice minister, insists the reports of abuse are "largely fabricated", pushed by refugee activists.

"There is no gun violence in Nauru, people are not dying from domestic violence and our police don't even have to be armed, so let's get some perspective into this discussion," Adeang said.

"In some way, we are safer than Australia."

But Law, who retains strong links in Nauru, says the rule of law has collapsed and the safety of asylum seekers is imperilled.

"The number of incidents since January has been alarming. There have been a lot of attacks by locals, refugees being beaten up or worse. Some young refugees on motor bikes crashed after stones were thrown at them…

"The police had a look at it and the response was that the people riding the motor bike were drunk. Given they were Muslims, that's hard to believe."

"There's no compliance with the rule of law."

One frequent visitor to Nauru, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the refugees were in deep despair, knowing it could be many years before they are resettled.

As well as promising to allow asylum seekers to roam the 21 square kilometre equatorial island and mingle with its population of 10,000 as they see fit, Nauru has vowed to process all their refugee claims within a week. However, each asylum seeker will be granted residency for 10 years in Nauru, a crushing acknowledgment of the time it may take them to get resettled.

And Nauru's promise of the rapid processing of refugee claims has already unravelled. To date, only four refugees processed offshore have left to live in Cambodia, part of a $50 million deal by the federal government with Phnom Penh.

"It's a lost generation. They have nothing in front of them," says the visitor.

Dutton blames advocates for encouraging refugees not to take up the offer to live in Cambodia. But immigration sources say the wealthy countries that usually take refugees are uneasy with Australia's conduct and reluctant to take the refugees from Nauru and Manus, fearing a tacit endorsement of offshore processing.

In the High Court, Gleeson posited a simple, if disturbing, proposition - Australia has no control over the facilities or how asylum seekers are treated in Nauru.

Lawyers for the Bangladeshi woman retorted that, through a contract with Transfield Services and payments to the Nauru government, the Commonwealth funds, controls and implements the powers of detention.

The legal argument has finished, with the decision expected in coming weeks. In the meantime, the regular visitor to Nauru says the despair of the asylum seekers coupled with local resentment is a combustible mix.

"There is no difference under the 'open centre' plan. The island is the jail now and it just brings the two sides closer together…. It's going to blow. I'm telling you, it's going to blow."

NAURU - A SNAPSHOT

Population: 10,000

Refugees: 650, including 93 children

Size: 21 sq km

Budget: One-third to one half of revenue comes direct from Australian government in aid and payments of $1000 per month in visa fees for each asylum seeker. Nauru has the highest dependence on aid of any Pacific country

Economy: Income from processing centre - which employs hundreds of Nauruans - is easily biggest revenue stream. Fishing licence fees and phosphate mining are the next biggest earners, pulling in about $10 million and $6 million a year.

Source: DFAT, Asian Development Bank, AAP

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