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News > World

Australia Lambasted for Treatment of Refugees at UN Review

  • Australia's treatment of asylum seekers and refugees is controversial both at home and abroad.

    Australia's treatment of asylum seekers and refugees is controversial both at home and abroad. | Photo: Reuters

Published 9 November 2015
Opinion

Nations ranging from Norway to North Korea have loaded Australia with criticism over its treatment of asylum seekers.

Australia faced an outpouring of international condemnation Monday, as dozens of nations expressed frustration at Canberra's treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.

More than 100 countries spoke during a United Nations periodic review of Australia's human rights record, with many slamming the country for its mandatory detention regime, which puts asylum seekers behind bars for years on end in offshore processing facilities.

Norway's delegate highlighted concerns over allegations of poor conditions in the offshore detention centers, and urged Australia to abide by international law in its processing of asylum seeker claims.

RELATED: Neoliberal Australia: Reflections from Down Under

"Norway remains concerned about reported conditions for asylum seekers detained in offshore processing centers,” the Norwegian delegate said during the U.N. Human Rights council review.

Germany called on Australia to remove children and their families from detention, while Ireland expressed frustration at Australian restrictions that forced United Nations investigators to abandon an inspection of processing facilities earlier this year.

Other countries that criticized Australia included the United States, Guatemala, Egypt, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Sweden, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Iran, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Switzerland and North Korea.

North Korea said it was particularly concerned over the “continued maltreatment of and violence against the refugees and asylum seekers.”

Australia's delegation defended Canberra's human rights record by arguing a hardline approach to asylum seekers has saved lives by deterring people from attempting to reach the country by sea.

Steve McGlynn, from Australia's immigration department, said hardline border policies were sending a “clear message that people smugglers do not offer a path to Australia".

However, Professor Sarah Joseph from the Castan Center said the session illustrated how Australia has become an international “pariah” over its refugee policies.

“Australia's treatment of asylum seekers has drawn the attention of nations from every region of the world. Today it was manifestly clear that we are not role models on issues of asylum,” she said, according to Australia's ABC.

The U.N. review came as Australia struggled to regain control of a processing center on Christmas Island, where inmates have staged massive protests against what they say are poor conditions.

The Christmas Island facility has long been one of Australia's most notorious detention centers.

In late 2014, two United Nations agencies issued statements that described offshore processing as inhumane and potentially a violation of international law.

RELATED: Australia Gains Reputation as 'Law-Breaker' for Refugee Policy

The U.N. Committee on Torture announced it had uncovered brutal conditions in the processing camps on Manus and Nauru, including poor access to basic necessities such as health care for detainees.

“The combination of these harsh conditions, the protracted periods of closed detention and the uncertainty about the future reportedly creates serious physical and mental pain and suffering,” its report concluded.

The same day the report was released, Australia's handling of asylum seekers also drew fire from the U.N. High Commission for Refugees representative in Indonesia, Thomas Vargas.

According to Vargas, Australia's detention of asylum-seeking children violates one of the most widely ratified U.N. human rights treaties, the Convention on the Rights of the Child. “The negative impact that it has on a child's life at the very beginning of their life, to put them in this type of horrible situation, you can just imagine the negative consequences that it has on their psyche, on their wellbeing," he said.

“Not only is it not humanitarian, but it's illegal under international law,” Vargas added.

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