Transcript
Human Rights Watch says Australia could do a lot more to improve the situation for people held in the offshore processing centre on Nauru.
Along with Amnesty International, HRW has issued a report finding Australia is ignoring human rights abuses against asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru.
Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection has rejected the report, suggesting it was not an independent form of scrutiny.
HRW's Elaine Pearson says it's disappointing that Canberra is reluctant to engage in the substance of the allegations.
She spoke to Johnny Blades who asked her about the department's claim that welfare and health services are provided for the detainees.
ELAINE PEARSON: Anyone requiring specialised care has to be flown off the island and that's exactly the same for local Nauruan citizens. And I think the issue comes when you have a population of refugees and asylum seekers who have already had a number of issues previous to arriving in the country. They may have psychiatric issues, mental health concerns, compounded by prolonged periods in detention. These people have very specific needs and Australia knows very well, what is the impact of mandatory detention on populations. Because those policies have been in place in Australia for a very long time. So I think it's really appalling that there is only such a basic standard medical care for these people.
JOHNNY BLADES: And that comment from the department that Australia doesn't exert control over Nauru's functions, systems, so forth, do you take that with a grain of salt?
EP: Well look, I mean Nauru is an independent sovereign nation but let's be real about this, Australia has a lot of sway with Nauru precisely because Nauru's very dependent on Australia for the money that the offshore detention centre brings in. It's more than a billion dollars. So absolutely, I think the Australian government could be doing much more to encourage the Nauru government to open up access to the centres to allow journalists to enter the country. If Australia made those requests, Nauru would agree because Australia is funding these centres. They are effectively Australian centres. So it's no good saying that this is simply a matter for the Nauru government. Even when it comes to the police, I think there are some issues there. There are three members of the Australian Federal police on the Island and I think, given the large number of complaints that have been made by refugees and asylum seekers, clearly these complaints are not being investigated properly if people are not being held to account. So something needs to be done there to ensure that people have better security and better safety.
JB: The stuff in the report is in some ways just more of the same signals that we've been getting for the last few years (about abuses at the centre). Why is it that both sides of Australia's political divide seem immovable on this whole issue?
EP: It wasn't an election issue this time because both sides of politics have agreed that offshore processing is here to stay and I think that's really disappointing. I think that the Australian people need to demand better from our government. I think a lot of Australian people were quite concerned when it was tens of thousands of people coming by boat previously during the Rudd era. But we also have to be realistic. Globally there is a migration crisis happening and a vast majority of people are remaining in their regions. But some people do make there way to Australia. When not saying 'open the borders, allow everyone in' but I think there has to be a better recognition and a better system to allow those who are genuine refugees to find a life of safety and dignity. And that clearly hasn't happened on Nauru.
