By Meg Pickup
Following the appalling shootings at Bondi on December 14, 2025, the plight of refugees and asylum seekers has slipped further under the radar. Since then, the politics of division seems to be driving the debate, resulting in often poor policy making on the run. Thus, we need to be vigilant and hold the government to account on matters related to people seeking asylum in Australia.
One area of concern is corruption in Australia’s offshore detention arrangement. The Government has attempted to suppress this information. Thanks to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre the corruption and human rights abuses tied to our multi-billion-dollar deportation deal with the Nauruan Government has been exposed. It became public knowledge after Senators David Pocock and David Shoebridge read into Hansard the transcript of an interview with Nauruan President David Adeang.
In the interview Adeang stated that he would attempt to return refugees to the countries from which they had fled. Known as extraordinary rendition, returning people unwillingly to face danger in their home country is not just immoral – it’s illegal under international law. It beggars belief that Australia would even consider outsourcing violations of human rights.
The Albanese Government knew of the corruption and money-laundering allegations against Adeang yet still signed its new $2.5 billion deportation deal. An out of sight, out of mind mentality prevailed, clouding good policy making.
Behind every secret deal and every dollar funnelled offshore there are real people who have been shattered by this system. We know that:
- Children detained on Nauru have learned to self-harm.
- Women, children and men have been sexually assaulted.
- People died waiting for medical care that never came, or by suicide driven by sheer hopelessness.
The trauma caused by offshore detention lasts a lifetime. Shame on us for making the lives of already vulnerable people worse.
Over 30 people remain in Papua New Guinea and around 100 in Nauru. They report food insecurity and deteriorating health. Those recently deported under the NZYQ cohort are being held in isolation and secrecy. More needs to be done to bring this disgrace to the fore.
Australia’s offshore processing regime cannot be rehabilitated. It must be ended permanently. We must humanely treat the refugees and asylum seekers who ask us for support and throw our weight behind bringing down this cruel system. We can:
- keep up to date with what’s happening
- keep family and friends informed
- support refugee activist support groups and initiatives
- use social media platforms to raise awareness of refugee policy
- advocate for an Australian Human Rights Act where the rights of refugees, migrants, and people from multicultural communities to be treated equally when it comes to rights such as education, health and privacy, and that they enjoy the same rights as other parts of the community to express their identity and culture are protected.
