Up to 100 Palestinian, Iraqi and Iranian asylum seekers on Nauru have been holding rowdy nightly protests over delays in the processing of their refugee claims.
The noisy protest continues late into the night with chants of “We want Freedom, We Want Freedom“ and “Don’t Make Us Crazy”.
Recent arrivals have been told that it could take between six and seven months before initial interviews are held for their refugee claims.
The protests come less than a month after a hunger strike by up to 35 asylum seekers who have also been told that they would wait six months before processing would begin. The hunger strike in late June ended when authorities said their processing would begin after three months.
Now, it seems Immigration has reneged on that undertaking.
Refugee assessments have supposedly been completed on around 200 asylum seekers, but there is no indication when they will be told the outcomes. Asylum seekers have also been told that even if they are found to be refugees, they could be kept on Nauru for up to five years.
Also fuelling the protests are growing concerns at what seems to be a spreading fungal skin infection. Up to 20 asylum seekers seem to be affected so far. The detainees are worried that the infection is being compounded by the dust from construction activities and the residue of the phosphate mining.
Some people are developing the skin condition within a month of arrival at the detention centre. “They [ie the medical officers] don’t know what it is. There is no proper treatment and it is spreading. We are very concerned that it will spread to everyone here. This place is hell,” one asylum seeker on Nauru told the Refugee Action Coalition. Last week another two asylum seekers were evacuated from Nauru to Australian hospitals.
Meanwhile, conditions deteriorate in the camp as a whole. Although numbers in the detention centre have grown to over 400, there has been no expansion of facilities. Asylum seekers are now waiting in lines for up to an hour to get their lunch.
The “permanent” buildings that have replaced the tent accommodation on Nauru also seem to have major construction flaws as they noticeably move when people even walk up the stairs. The instability of the buildings is sufficient to wake people up. Initially, the asylum seekers said it felt like little earthquake tremors when people came up the stairs or even moved about in their rooms.
“Nauru and Manus Island are the sharp end of Labor’s failed Pacific Solution. Off-shore processing has no place in a humanitarian refugee policy. Rudd might be opposing Abbott’s ‘tow back the boats’ policy but there is too much Liberal baggage in Kevin Rudd’s refugee policy. Nauru should be closed,” said Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition.
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
