Australia frees last of asylum seekers’ children from detention

But dozens more still kept in camp in Nauru island

SYDNEY // No more children of asylum seekers are in detention in Australia, the government said yesterday, although dozens of others are still being held on the remote Pacific island of Nauru.

Officials in the capital Canberra have been under pressure from rights groups to release children from the centres, with doctors and whistleblowers saying that detention has left some asylum seekers struggling with mental health problems.

“We’ve succeeded since the change of government [in September 2013] not only in stopping the boats but we’ve also succeeded ... that there are now no children who arrived unlawfully by boat in detention,” said Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said.

“It’s always been a goal of the immigration minister to get kids out of detention.” The announcement meant the children have been moved to community detention, where asylum seekers waiting for their refugee applications to be processed live within the community. They were usually allowed to move around freely.

Detention levels for asylum seeker children in immigration centres have fallen from a record number of almost 2,000 in June 2013.

“In 2007 there were no children in detention, so it’s almost a decade since we’ve had no children in detention,” said immigration minister Peter Dutton in Brisbane.

Another 50 children were still held at a camp on the Pacific island of Nauru, according to the Australian immigration department, although the government said in October that the asylum seekers there were free to roam around the tiny nation.

Under Canberra’s immigration policy, asylum seekers who try to reach Australia by boat were turned back or sent to camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where they were held indefinitely while their refugee appli- cations were processed. They were blocked from resettling in Australia even if found to be refugees.

Meanwhile, refugee advocates said the 267 asylum seekers due to be deported to Nauru following a court ruling in February were still in Australia in what they claim as a success for their #LetThemStay campaign.

The asylum seekers, including children, had been brought to Australia from Nauru for medical treatment. There have been numerous protests against the deporta- tions under the # LetThemStay campaign, with Australian church leaders also vowing to defy immigration rules, offering sanctuary to asylum seekers. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young urged Mr Dutton to take a further step by ruling out sending children back to Nauru.

“Peter Dutton should allow these families and children to apply for visas in Australia, so that they can get on with rebuilding their lives in safety,” said Ms Hanson-Young.