February 2025
On 9 January 2025, the UN Human Rights Committee found that Australia had violated two provisions of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights human rights treaty by detaining 25 refugees and people seeking asylum, including minors, on Nauru even after they were granted refugee status. This was over a period of more than 10 years. These violations regarded the right to be free from arbitrary detention and the right of people to challenge their detention in court.
The first case follows a 2016 petition filed by a group of 24 people seeking asylum from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar who were intercepted while trying to reach Australia by boat in 2013, when they were aged between 14 and 17 years old. The group, who were unaccompanied and transferred to Nauru from Christmas Island in 2014, were held in the overcrowded Regional Processing Centre where they lacked access to sufficient water and health care, the UN statement said.
Nearly all the minors suffered a deterioration in wellbeing there, including weight loss, self-harm, kidney problems and insomnia, it said. They remained in detention in Nauru even after all but one of these minors were granted refugee status.
In the second case, a person seeking asylum from Iran arrived by boat on Christmas Island with her husband, stepfather, stepsister, and male cousin without valid visas in August 2013. Seven months later, she was transferred to Nauru and detained at the Regional Processing Centre. She was recognised as a refugee by the authorities in Nauru in April 2017 but was not released immediately. Thirteen months after the granting of her refugee status, she was moved to a Support Accommodation Area in Nauru for healthcare services. She was subsequently transferred to mainland Australia in November 2018 for medical reasons but was still detained in various facilities.
Australia opposed the allegations, stating there was no proof the violations had occurred within its jurisdiction. However, the Committee found that the Nauru facility counted as being within Australia's jurisdiction, citing the country's role in constructing and financing it.
The UN Committee has asked the Australian government to provide compensation to the victims and to ensure similar violations do not recur. The UN Human Rights Committee has ruled that Australia retains responsibility for the arbitrary detention of people seeking asylum redirected or transferred to Nauru, consistent with its long-held position.
What's next?
The federal government is yet to comment on the findings.
Further information:
Sources – UN ruling on Australia’s responsibility for people transferred to Nauru | UNHCR Asia Pacific, Australia violated human rights treaty with Nauru detainees, UN committee finds - ABC News.
Media Release on Human Rights Committee Decision – Australia responsible for arbitrary detention of asylum seekers in offshore facilities.
The full Decisions of both cases:
Thank you to CARAD volunteer, Ellie Korn, for her contribution to this article.