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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Sarah Basford Canales

Australia spent more than $9m for each asylum seeker held on Nauru last year – so why can’t they afford to buy food?

A two-story white building with external blue metal stairs leading to an upper level entrance
The Budapest hotel houses some of the asylum seekers and refugees sent to Nauru while they await processing. The ASRC survey includes reports of substandard accommodation facilities. Photograph: Supplied

Most refugees and asylum seekers held in Nauru’s detention centres say they cannot afford to buy enough food or access clean drinking water, despite the Australian government spending the equivalent of more than $9m per person last financial year.

The group of more than 100 people have been sent indefinitely to the tiny Pacific island while they wait for their asylum claims to be processed. Many of the cohort say they are skipping meals to make ends meet, according to a new survey by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) advocacy group.

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