A peek at Aussie’s refugee playbook
drivers taking voyeuristic photos of female detainees.
The asylum seekers must wait months if not years for the UN refugee agency to assess their claims. Once their claims are approved – most are – they can either resettle in Cambodia or remain on the impoverished island, in an area just 2.5 per cent the size Phnom Penh.
Since then, only five refugees have accepted the offer. Just one remains.
“Australia has found an interesting model,” said Martin Henriksen, one of six Danish politicians who will visit Nauru and a member of the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party. He suggested on Danish radio that Denmark could maintain offsite refugee camps in Kenya or Greenland.
Other politicians in the delegation are more sceptical about Australia’s approach.
“We are really worried by the reports about conditions on Nauru and Manus Island,” said Johanne SchmidtNielsen, another member of the delegation who belongs to a socialist-green party.
Another delegate, Jacob Mark, a member of the Socialist People’s Party, emphasised that the delegation is going to Nauru to learn, and not to endorse Australian policy.
In April, the supreme court of Papua New Guinea ordered the closure of Australia’s other big offshore detention facility, on the island of Manus.
The government of Nauru tightly regulates access to the facility, and bars all but the most sympathetic journalists from visiting. Journalists from the Guardian, Australia’s public television network SBS, ABC, and Al Jazeera have all applied for visas, at a cost of $8,000, to no avail.
On Wednesday, one of Australia’s most vocal opponents of offshore detentions revealed that her application to visit the Nauru facility was denied as well.
“Real journalists aren’t allowed anywhere near the island and now members of Parliament aren’t allowed to inspect the detention camp or meet with people that have been sent there,” Sarah Hanson-Young, an Australian senator and member of the leftwing Greens party, said.
It appears that she may have spoken too soon. As the Danish delegation’s visit suggests, all it takes is one open mind to get access.