Senator Andrew Bartlett
Saturday, April 16, 2005
 
Important media coverage of Nauru refugees
The publication in today’s Age newspaper of the stories of the refugees still locked up on Nauru is a major development. They are a must read for anyone interested in this issue. One is entitled "Heading for Breakdown", which tells in detail the story of one man, Ali Mullaie, and the other "Home is Where the Broken Heart Is" which puts a face and a story to many of the other people still stuck in this living hell.

Michael Gordon has previously written influential stories on this topic for The Age. He wrote profiles on the torment endured by some of the men who were ‘free’ with temporary refugee visas in Australia while their wives and children were locked up on Nauru, refused visas by Australia and pressured to return ‘home’. These families were subsequently reunited, although – to Australia’s shame – only because New Zealand offered places to the women and children, and the men were able to settle with them there. I met some of these families before and after they settled in New Zealand and wrote a piece on it for On Line Opinion.

Michael Gordon also wrote this piece about the forgotten people on Nauru last month, which I mentioned here. That story mentions Houda al-Maussadi, who is one of the detainees alleged to have been given the banned drug Vioxx after it was meant to be withdrawn from use. Houda remains in detention in Melbourne for treatment of serious health problems.

The fact that the Nauru government allowed Michael Gordon into Nauru and he was given full access to talk with and photograph the detainees is a very significant shift. The Nauruan Minister who made this decision, David Adeang, must be congratulated. I have met him on both of my visits to Nauru – the first time he was in Government, the second time he was not, and he is now a Minister again in a Government that seems to be far more stable than those of recent years. He is a young man, clearly committed to his homeland, who recognises that things need to be done very differently to the ways of the past. When all the refugees are finally freed from Nauru, we must ensure we do not forget the difficulties which the people of Nauru also face.

I am very hopeful these stories will help make the shift that frees the remaining refugees. I have no doubt that many of the Afghanis have been wrongly assessed because of the Government’s belief that they are really from Pakistan. It is also clear that many of the others left cannot safely return home. Even if they do not strictly meet the narrow criteria of refugee, there are pressing humanitarian grounds for giving them visas and freeing them from their prison. Most other western countries have humanitarian visas for this purpose, but Australia hasn't and has resisted many requests to initiate one.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Saturday, April 16, 2005 Permalink
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