Closure of Nauru Detention Welcomed

7 December 2007

A Just Australia today welcomed the Rudd Government's decision to being the winding up of the so-called Pacific Solution.

"We welcome this move to uphold the rights of these refugees, particularly as today is Human Rights Day. The move shows that border protection can still be maintained without impacting on the human rights of vulnerable people. " Kate Gauthier, National Coordinator said.

The Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, has announced that the seven Burmese asylum seekers, who had been kept waiting for over one year for an answer to their cases by the previous Government, will be granted resettlement in Australia and are likely to arrive before Christmas. An additional 72 Sri Lankans who had been found to be refugees and had been kept waiting for months, will also be granted resettlement and moved sometime in the following month.

A Just Australia recently released a report with Oxfam Australia "A Price too High" which detailed the heavy cost to the Australian taxpayer for the Pacific Solution.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars was spent on this program, to process only a handful of refugees who ended up in Australia anyway. But the untold cost is the human impact on vulnerable men, women and children who spent years locked up in the Pacific camps." Ms Gauthier said.

"We have campaigned with the support of thousands of Australians to end this policy and we are pleased to see that the Rudd government is drawing a line under this shameful period of Australia's history."


For media comment:
Kate Gauthier 0414 876 139