Melbourne, Australia — Australia has decided to pay Nauru, a small island in the Pacific, to take in foreign criminals who can’t be indefinitely detained under current laws, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday.
A court ruling in 2023 made Nauru a viable option for the government after the Australian High Court decided that non-citizens who cannot be resettled elsewhere cannot be held indefinitely in immigration detention.
While Albanese did not confirm specific figures, media reports suggested Australia would pay this tiny island nation roughly $400 million to facilitate the arrangement.
“Individuals without the right to stay must go somewhere if they can’t return home,” Albanese remarked during an interview with Australia’s Broadcasting Company.
“If they can’t be sent back due to various regulations we have, we need to find a different country for them,” he added.
Home Minister Tony Burke surprised many by visiting Nauru on Friday, where he signed an agreement with President David Adian.
“This involves proper care and long-term arrangements for those who do not qualify to remain in Australia,” Adian stated on Sunday.
He mentioned that Australia would support this partnership and aid in Nauru’s long-term economic stability.
Adian noted that the agreement would be activated when Nauru is the first country to grant long-term visas.
According to the Australian Asylum-seeker Resource Centre, Nauru plans to issue 280 visas for non-citizens seeking deportation from Australia.
The Centre also reported that a new law introduced in Australian Parliament could undermine the fairness of deportation decisions linked to this agreement. Visas revoked under this new rule will not be appealed in court.
Jana Favero, the centre’s assistant chief executive, indicated that this could lead to the deportation of as many as 80,000 individuals.
“We’re talking about tens of thousands of lives at stake—not just a small number like the government might suggest,” Favero said.
Albanese stated that both governments would unveil the contract’s details simultaneously.
“There are complexities and specifics to discuss, including the exact number of individuals involved,” he noted.
The recent High Court ruling challenged the government’s previous practice of keeping detainees who failed character tests for criminal behavior in indefinite custody, as they couldn’t be deported.
Some countries, such as Afghanistan, are considered unsafe for deportees, and Iran has also refused to accept citizens who haven’t returned voluntarily.
A notable case involved a person identified in court as NZYQ, a member of the persecuted Rohingya community from Myanmar. He was brought to Australia by a smuggler and, after committing a crime, was sentenced and subsequently held in indefinite detention until his legal victory.
Over 200 immigrants have been released from detention due to the NZYQ decision, with some reoffending and returning to prison.
In February, Burke announced that three violent offenders, including a convicted murderer, had been granted 30-year visas to live in Nauru, though this decision is being contested in Australian courts.
