The message was stark.
The reports came through that an unaccompanied minor had been dispatched to Nauru.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre reported the girl arrived on the island yesterday and is between 15 and 16 years old.
It is believed she is the first unaccompanied minor to be actually sent directly to Nauru under the new Federal Government’s offshore processing regime.
Late last night a photograph of her was published arriving on the island by plane.
The Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison’s department told the ABC it is Government policy that families who arrive illegally by boat are sent to Nauru.
There are no exemptions.
It also said the publication of images of asylum seekers can place relatives of those persons at risk in their home countries.
It is for this reason that Mamamia has decided NOT to publish the picture of this young girl.
She is though, not the first unaccompanied minor on Nauru.
Last Friday Immigration Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that there were three other unaccompanied minors already on the island.
How they arrived and their family circumstances were (as usual) not officially disclosed.
Newspaper reports said that the teenagers already on Nauru were two girls and a boy and were transferred by the current government in recent weeks.
One of the girls is a Somalian and was transferred to Nauru as an adult after giving a false age to immigration officials on Christmas Island. The other girl is believed to be an Iranian who also gave a false age.
The boy is understood to be an Iranian who was transferred to Nauru with an adult family member who has subsequently abandoned their care duty.
All three teenagers are living in solid housing blocks, but none attend school.
It has not been confirmed where the newest arrival is from. But the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has said this latest teenage girl is living in a family tent, but also not attending school.
Department of immigration and border protection monthly statistics show there were 106 children held on Nauru as of 31 October.
A spokesman for the immigration and border protection minister said that “tailored education services” were provided to all school-aged asylum seeker children on Nauru and added that 20 children were taking part in a pilot program of attendance at the Nauru college.
The girl’s arrival comes as eight asylum seekers reportedly voluntarily left the island to return to their country of origin after losing hope they would be settled in Australia.
As per the usual cone of silence the Department of Immigration and Border Protection say they will release information on their Friday press conference. Exactly what information they will be forthcoming with is anybody’s guess.
Campaign coordinator at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Pamela Curr told the Guardian Australia that Scott Morrison was shirking his responsibility as legal guardian for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.
““His responsible concern is supposed to be their welfare and protection,” she said. “He’s sending them offshore to a detention centre where they have no protection whatsoever.”
The ABC spoke to Sophie Peer the campaign director from ChilOut, a not-for-profit organisation that wants to end children in detention. She pleaded with the Immigration Minister to “reconsider and to bring these children where they belong, back to the mainland of Australia and to be treated as children.”
Its reported that the teenage girl will get a four-minute shower each day, military packaged meals which she will have to line up for about two hours for, and the only available drinking water will be bottled.
“She’s a risk,” Pamela Curr said to the Guardian. “I would be absolutely petrified if she was my daughter.””
Sophie Peer too says that the conditions on Nauru are not appropriate for a young girl on her own. She told the ABC:
“What we understand is, of course, insufficient power, insufficient water. The people are living in Army-style tents that have no air conditioning. It’s hot. It’s dusty. There’s absolutely no privacy. It’s quite a long walk to the toilet block from the accommodation tents. We know from young men, unaccompanied minors who are sent to Manus, that they made allegations of being raped. We don’t know what is going to happen to this girl.”
Now it’s up to the Government to tell us is what is happening….
Top Comments
The only good takeaway from these (more & more frequently) reported atrocities is that those of us in this country who have good hearts are becoming more outraged & more vocal which is always the predecessor of drastic change. I have said since phony tony won the election that it was going to cause the gap between the jerks & people with hearts to widen. The more comfortable the bigots become spewing their hatred the more people like myself will want to show love. If this country is being destroyed it's by the hateful among us-not refugees. And all the libs need to stop bleating about us being too broke to help. If we're living in a country that can afford to pay a giant douche canoe like Kyle Sandilands $2million to broadcast his stupidity we have plenty of cash to spare!! I'm going to look into how I can volunteer my services to help do my part to minimise the human rights disaster that this has become. It's something I have been interested in for a while, but I'd like to thank all the hateful bigots for giving me the kick in the butt I needed to do something ASAP. I'm sure your words have been an inspiration to many!
Another example of appalling, yet expected behaviour of an asylum seeker from the Abbott government. Politics aside, we have a duty of care to protect this young lady. As if she hasn't suffered enough, now she faces the risk of rape?! Disgraceful, I am embarassed to call myself Australian. Her crime? Not being fortunate enough to be born in a western country. It makes me sick to my stomach. Compassion people, compassion.