Another Nauru Protest Calls for Immediate Processing

MEDIA RELEASE: ANOTHER NAURU PROTEST CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE PROCESSING

More than 300 asylum seekers on Nauru staged another protest Sunday (21 October) afternoon calling for refugee processing to begin immediately and for closure of the Nauru detention centre (see statement below).

The protest on Nauru was timed to coincide with a protest in Melbourne calling for an end to offshore processing. During the protest, the asylum seekers called the UN to draw attention to their situation.

The asylum seekers are very worried about moves to intimidate different groups inside the detention centre. Australian immigration officials are holding separate meetings with asylum seekers of different nationalities.

One of the Iranian asylum seekers has been subjected to intense surveillance and seems to have a guard or Nauru police permanently watching him. “They even follow me to the toilet,” he told the Refugee Action Coalition.

“There is an urgent need for independent human rights observers to be stationed on Nauru. The Australian government is using its ‘no advantage’ offshore processing policy to create intolerable condition on Nauru,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

“The government is also deliberately stalling refugee processing both in Nauru and Australian detention centre. There are thousands of people now in Australian detention centres, that the government knows it cannot send to Nauru or Manus Island, yet they have been left in limbo.

“The uncertainty is a form of mental torture. It is precisely this uncertainty that makes detention centres ‘factories of mental illness’. The government should begin processing refugee claims, here and on Nauru, immediately.”

For more information contact Ian Rintoul mob 0417 275 713

Statement from Nauru, Sunday 21 October:

Asylum seekers Nauru
To whom it may concern

The government of Australia and human rights [supporters]

There is a big difference between criminal and asylum seekers, but the Australian does not take care of the difference between asylums seekers of Nauru camp, Darwin and Curtin camp, are treated differently.

As a human being in this critical condition, we are not being given the fair treatment, which affect us physically and mentally. This bitter reality torture us 24 hours means all days. In our home land we were in a danger of being tortured physically, but here we are facing mental tortured which are effecting us mentally.

All these sorrowful information have been provided to world through telephone, mails and email but [we] haven’t been given any response.

Today we all got together to declare that we will continue our protests until getting our rights. The following are our demands:

1. The most important appeal is that if Australian Government should have attention to our cases and take us back to Australia.
2. We request the Australia Government to visits us and see us in bad condition of our lives.
3. stop sending asylum seeker to the Hell.
4. We accept Australia as a democratic country, where people are being treated equally and as a human being, we expect the same treatment.

At last we want to thanks people who help us…