Human Rights Groups Condemn Australia’s Plan to Transfer Criminals to Nauru

Human rights organizations are raising the alarm on Australia’s deportation plan regarding three violent offenders including an alleged murderer to Nauru, a tiny Pacific island. It is reported that the Australian government has paid Nauru after the offenders lost their Aussie visas for criminal activities to grant them 30 year visas.

Jane Favero of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre charged that the decision was an “abject disregard for human rights” doubting whether it is right to ship away people who had been part of an Australian community.

Tony Burke, the Home Affairs minister, defended the plan that people who demonstrate appalling character by committing serious crimes should be sent out of the country. He explained that the offenders would be detained until they are transferred or until all their detention reviews are completed.

Once in Nauru, the criminals would live in separate accommodation with communal kitchens, have work rights and freedom of movement within the territory.