A/80/302
from neighbouring countries, or had become stranded in the Niger because of
restrictions on onward movement. 30
B.
Extraterritorial processing of asylum claims
12. Some States outsource or relocate elements of the processing of asylum claims
to a third State, including, in particular, Australia, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, Italy and the United States, which have arrangements
with Nauru, Rwanda, Albania and Mexico, respectively.
13. Since 2001, Australia has operated various iterations of a system for offshore
processing of asylum claims made by persons arriving by sea without a valid visa. 31
Under the current arrangement, which started in 2012, Australia transfers asylum seekers to Nauru. A similar arrangement with Papua New Guinea was in place
between 2012 and 2021. 32 Formally, asylum procedures are carried out by local
authorities under the law of the receiving country. However, Australian officials have
played a significant role in the processing of asylum claims. During the asylum
procedure, and, in some cases, after recognition of refugee status, individuals have
been detained in regional processing centres, which are closed detention facilities
established and run by Australia in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Following
detention and recognition of status, some refugees have been released into the
community in Nauru and Papua New Guinea on temporary visas, with “settlement”
services funded by Australia. Most do not have travel documents, meaning that they
are unable to leave Nauru and Papua New Guinea without the support of Australia.
Reports indicate that many are suffering from serious health conditions that cannot
be adequately treated in those countries. Health consequences can be gendered,
because access to some essential reproductive healthcare is illegal in both countries. 33
More broadly, there have been reported cases of women being subjected to sexual
harassment and abuse both at the detention centre and following release as refugees
into the community in Nauru. 34 Offshore processing of asylum has been found to
cause severe mental suffering, in particular among children. 35
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30
31
32
33
34
35
25-12609
See submission by Oxfam; see also www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/fileadmin/mediapool/downloads/
fachpublikationen/sonstige/Country_Brief_Migration_Partnership_Niger_040523.pdf .
Madeline Gleeson and Natasha Yacoub, “‘Offshore processing’ in Australia”, Externalizing
Asylum.
In 2016, the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea found that the detention of asylum -seekers
sent to Papua New Guinea by Australia was unconstitutional (Supreme Court of Justice of Papua
New Guinea, Namah v. Pato, SC 1497, 26 April 2016). The arrangements with Papua New
Guinea continued until the end of 2021. While no additional asylum-seekers are to be
transferred to Papua New Guinea, some refugees remain there without access to a durable
solution.
Federal Court of Australia, Plaintiff S99/2016 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
[2016] FCA 483, File No. VID 305 of 2016, Judgment, 6 May 2016.
Australian Women in Support of Women on Nauru, Protection Denied, Abuse Condoned: Women
on Nauru at Risk (2016).
Letter from the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Cout to Andrew Wilkie,
MP, available at https://andrewwilkie.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/200213-Andrew-WilkieResponse-from-International-Criminal-Court-Australian-Government-treatment-of-asylumseekers.pdf; submission by Australian Human Rights Commission; submission by Anna Talbot;
and submission by Madeline Gleeson and Natasha Yacoub. For medical research findings on the
predictable mental health decline, see UNHCR, “Submission of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees on the Inquiry into the Serious Allegations of Abuse, Self harm and Neglect of Asylum-seekers in Relation to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre, and
any like Allegations in Relation to the Manus Regional Processing Centre Referred to the Senate
Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee”, 12 November 2016.
7/23