Australia to spend millions on empty refugee center

Even as the last asylum seekers leave, the controversial center on Nauru will remain open as a deterrent

Australia will continue to fund its controversial offshore detention processing center on the Pacific island of Nauru even as the facility’s remaining refugees leave, in an effort to deter human smugglers from sending ships into the country, according to local media.

The government will spend up to A$350 million (US$235 million) a year on the installation, the aussie the newspaper reported, adding that the center’s last asylum seeker had recently left the island.

An Interior Department spokesman said Saturday that the administration remained committed to the country’s “Operation Sovereign Borders” policy.

The center remains ready to receive and process new unauthorized maritime arrivals and “a zero population on Nauru does not change Australia’s regional processing policy,” the spokesperson added.

Immigration has long been a divisive issue in Australia, which is known for strict policies that began under then-Prime Minister John Howard in 2001. Since then, thousands of asylum seekers have been sent to high-risk detention centers. sea ​​on the island of Manus and on Nauru, with some being held there for years. The tough stance earned condemnation from the United Nations, which called the policy arbitrary and illegal.

The issue returned to the spotlight last year following a national campaign to allow an ethnic Tamil family who had been in immigration limbo for three years to return to their Queensland community after being suddenly expelled from Australia. .

Ultimately, the family was granted “bridge” visas and allowed to remain in the community while their claim was evaluated.