Australia violated refugees' rights in offshore detention centre, says UN

10/1/2025 7:54

A U.N. committee found that Australia violated a human rights treaty by detaining a group of asylum seekers, including minors, on the remote Pacific island of Nauru even after they were granted refugee status, it said in a statement on Thursday.



Under Australia's tough immigration policies, those attempting to reach the country by boat have been sent to detention centres - including on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru - for so-called "offshore processing" since 2013. Such facilities have previously drawn scrutiny from rights groups.



The U.N. Human Rights Committee, which monitors the legally-binding 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and was asked to consider a complaint by a group of refugees, found that Australia had violated two provisions of the treaty: one on arbitrary detention and one protecting the right to challenge their detention in court.