Australia’s High Court has rejected a challenge to the government’s right to detain people in government-funded centers on Nauru.
Advertisement
Ahead of the decision, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton insisted the Government acted in the best interests of asylum seekers brought to Australia from Nauru for medical treatment.
Doctors have detailed their concerns about the child, along with worries about the wellbeing and safety of about 160 other children held in Australia’s detention centres.
The Human Rights Law Centre, which ran the case, said its clients were terrified of being sent to Nauru.
The Court unanimously held that those legal changes, backed by the Opposition in parliament, was authorised by valid laws, and as such, was not unconstitutional.
The petition, uploaded with the help of Australian adult moderators of the Facebook page Free The Children Nauru, makes two requests.
In a majority decision the court said the woman’s detention on Nauru was not unlawful.
Canberra’s Refugee Action Committee said Canberra residents were among those gathering about 11am to protest the deportation of 267 asylum seekers, including 37 babies born in Australia.
The Greens said on Wednesday that forcing their return amounted to “child abuse”.
He said people were staying in detention for too long.
The Commonwealth’s case in part hinged on a sudden decision last October by the Nauru government to allow asylum seekers to roam around the island at will. Aside from the “obvious trauma” for parents and children of returning to Nauru, the nutritional needs of babies may not be met and they faced risks such as inadequate housing, safety and hygiene standards, he said.
“We must create a fair and efficient system that will bring people here safely and integrate them into the community, so that their families can flourish”.
The group includes a five-year-old boy who was allegedly raped in Nauru by a fellow asylum seeker.
While there had been some improvement following recent open-centre arrangements, which allow detainees to come and go from the facility, it “can’t change the inescapable fact that these vulnerable people are living a life in limbo on a remote island, with little hope for their futures”, Gordon said.
Advertisement
The court examined the case of a Bangladeshi asylum seeker who was transferred from Nauru to Australia due to serious medical complications of her pregnancy.
