Australia Passes Law to Streamline Deportations to Nauru, Echoing Trump's Policies

Strategic Insights -

Australian lawmakers have passed a law that aims to streamline the deportation of hundreds of people who have been denied Australian visas to "third countries" where they are not citizens, a move that drew comparisons to the policies of President Donald Trump. The law comes after Australia reached a deal with the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru to send deportees there. Under the existing deal, Nauru is already home to a facility for Australia asylum seekers who arrive by boat.

Key Takeaways:

  • The new law removes legal barriers to swift deportations, allowing the government to remove someone to a third country without giving them a meaningful opportunity to respond to a decision that has significant consequences for their life, safety, health, and family.
  • The deal with Nauru adds deportees whose asylum claims have been denied over past criminal convictions, who cannot return to their countries of origin because they are stateless or because they fear persecution.
  • Australia is expected to pay Nauru some $1.62 billion over 30 years, which would amount to more than $100,000 per each current resident of Nauru.
  • The small island nation has agreed to take in at least 280 people from a cohort of noncitizens in Australia whose visas were canceled on "character grounds."
  • Trump's crackdown on immigration in the United States has involved third-country deportations, including to Eswatini, South Sudan, and Uganda.
  • Australia's approach to offshore processing has been praised by Trump, who said, "That is a good idea. We should do that, too. You are worse than I am."
  • The influence of Australia's policies on Trump's approach appears to be mutual, with Trump "mirroring Australia's decade-long failed offshore detention policy," according to Jana Favero, the deputy head of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

Statistics:

  • Nauru is already home to a facility for Australia asylum seekers who arrive by boat.
  • The island nation has an estimated 13,000 residents.
  • The Australian government is expected to pay Nauru $1.62 billion over 30 years.
  • The arrangement would amount to more than $100,000 per each current resident of Nauru.

Sources:

  • "Australia passes law to streamline deportation of hundreds to Pacific island of Nauru"

+ The Washington Post, unnamed dateline

  • "Australia's plan to dump deportees on tiny Pacific nation of Nauru"

+ Australian Broadcasting Corporation, July 2022

  • "Mirroring Australia, Trump's US stokes human rights ping-pong over migrants"

+ The Washington Post, 2017