The Australian government is expected to move all remaining refugees and asylum seekers off Nauru by the end of the month, more than a decade after offshore processing restarted on the Pacific Island nation.
But Australia will retain an “enduring” capacity for offshore detention on the island indefinitely.
Three asylum seekers – two of whom are among about a dozen left on Nauru, and a third who was flown to Brisbane last week – say they were informed of the government’s intention to transport all remaining refugees on the island to Australia by 30 June.
In recent months, there have been regular transfers of asylum seekers from Nauru to hotel detention in Australia, according to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) and Refugee Action Coalition, both of which are expecting detainees to be cleared from the island by the end of the month. From hotel detention, most are being granted bridging visas and encouraged to find jobs, they say.
The Howard government began offshore processing in Nauru in 2001, after the Tampa crisis. The practice was stopped in 2007 by the newly elected Labor government, after reports of abusive conditions, overcrowded tents, and a shortage of water, and then restarted in 2012 – again by a Labor government.
Sabir Khan, a Pakistani man on Nauru, said he was told the government wanted to move all refugees off the island by 30 June.
But after more than a decade in detention, he fears being transported to Australia without the promise of resettlement would result in further uncertainty.
“I was 25 when I left. I’m now 36 … my daughter [in Pakistan] is 12 years old,” he told Guardian Australia.
“It’s been 10 years of bad health, no freedom and promises broken.”
Nazim Ali, another Pakistani man on Nauru who has spent a decade in detention, has been told he will be transferred to Australia in the coming weeks. But he says the news is bittersweet.
“The Australian government used me for political benefits. It’s like I’ve been kept in the zoo … and they’re going to release me after I get old mentally and physically,” he said.
The government has confirmed that even with no asylum seekers on Nauru, maintaining facilities for offshore processing will continue to cost at least $350m a year as a “contingency”.
Heidi Abdel-Raouf, the detention policy lead at the ASRC, said since the Labor government was elected, more than 60 people had been evacuated from Nauru to Australia.
In recent months, there have been weekly or twice-weekly transfers of asylum seekers to Brisbane’s Meriton Hotel, she said.
“At the current trajectory, it’s likely there will be zero [asylum seekers on Nauru] by the end of June.”
She urged the government to shut down Nauru and end offshore processing.
There are still about 82 asylum seekers held in Papua New Guinea, Abdel-Raouf said. They are not in detention, but live in impoverished and often dangerous circumstances and cannot leave the islands freely.
Tamin, an asylum seeker from Bangladesh, was transferred to Brisbane’s Meriton from Nauru on 6 June.
For Tamin, leaving Nauru meant he wouldn’t know when he’d next see his partner, a Nauru local, and their baby who was born on Mother’s Day.
“We don’t have options so we come here [to Australia],” he said. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen next.”
Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition, said there is “no rhyme or reason” why some asylum seekers have been resettled or released from detention faster than others.
“We are expecting everyone off Nauru by June 30,” Rintoul told Guardian Australia.
Rintoul said most asylum seekers were being released on bridging visas, with a small amount of income support. They are then expected to find jobs and support themselves.
“The government really has not been providing enough support for their release,” Rintoul said. “It’s fallen very heavily on refugee charities and community groups to provide accommodation and jobs.”
“After so long in detention, their capacity for work is very often limited. They very often do have psychological issues, as well as physical health issues.
Nauru and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding in 2021, committing to an “enduring form of offshore processing” on the Pacific island state, and both major political parties have committed to maintaining an offshore processing capability.
Guardian Australia’s Nauru files, published in 2016, revealed systemic sexual and physical abuse of children and widespread self-harm and suicide attempts on the island.
A spokesperson for the minister for home affairs, Clare O’Neil, declined to comment.
