UN's Demand from the Australian Government: Close Nauru and Papua Detention Centers

Following a warning from Doctors Without Borders, the UN Refugee Agency has also urged the Australian government to promptly evacuate and close its offshore detention centers for asylum seekers. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, a spokesperson for the UN office in Australia stated on Friday, October 20, that the health and sanitation conditions in Australia's offshore detention centers are 'collapsing.' This official emphasized Australia's responsibility in this matter and suggested that Canberra positively respond to New Zealand's proposal announced last spring to send some asylum seekers to that country. On Thursday, October 19, Doctors Without Borders highlighted the 'severe' and dangerous psychological state of asylum seekers, especially children, in the Nauru detention center, urging the Australian government to remove them from this facility. According to the report from Doctors Without Borders, the mental health of asylum seekers held by Australia in the Nauru detention center is so dire that some children are nearing a coma state and have difficulties with eating, drinking, and even speaking. Catherine Stabfield, a spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency in Canberra, described the health and sanitation conditions in the Nauru and Papua New Guinea detention centers as 'collapsing' and 'critical.' Ms. Stabfield also referred to the case of a young girl who self-immolated in Nauru last month but continues to be held in the detention center despite medical recommendations. This official stated that 'many' asylum seekers in the Papua New Guinea detention center have attempted suicide or engaged in self-harm in the past month. The UN representative also emphasized that Australia must take responsibility for these detention centers, despite their distance from Australian territory, as it was the designer and funder of them. Under Australia's strict immigration policy, asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia are detained and sent to three camps in Papua New Guinea or a camp on Nauru. More than a thousand men, women, and children, many of whom are said to be Iranian, live in the Papua New Guinea and Nauru camps and have been told they will never receive residency rights in Australia. The Guardian reports that the number of these asylum seekers is 1,420, in addition to 500 who have been sent to Australia for medical treatment. Human rights advocates have repeatedly expressed concern about civil rights conditions on this island, and protests against the Australian government's treatment of refugees have occurred multiple times in Australia.