While the Australian government and their staff keep saying “there are no children in detention”, there certainly still are, notably those held on Nauru.

For over a year the number of children held in the Nauru camp has remained stable at around 43–51. (Some have negative determinations. Others have refugee status, but no housing exists in the community where they can be relocated.)

Some children have been moved to Australia for medical treatment and the fate of those children is still uncertain. Many of us fight to #LetThemStay. None should be sent back to Nauru.

From July 2013, children of all ages began to be sent to Nauru for processing.

The majority of children currently on Nauru were moved there from Christmas Island Detention Centre in 2013.

In February 2017 we learned children on average had spent over 995 days held on Nauru (we do not have updated figures on this). Official numbers do not record how long they were detained in Australia prior to their transfers. So many of the children held on Nauru have been held for over four years of their precious lives.

By October 2017 around 130 children have been found to be refugees and are held indefinitely on Nauru. Around 39 are still held in the detention camp (of these some have been deemed refugees and others have negative determinations).

As part of a ‘people swap’ deal with the United States some people on Nauru and Manus Island (PNG) were interviewed by US officials in December 2016/January 2017. In September 2017, 54 men, women and children from Manus Island and Nauru were told they had been accepted into the US Refugee Admissions Program. Within a week people held in PNG and Nauru – including two families with children – went to the United States.

We do not know how long this process might take nor how many people will be accepted, nor what will happen to those left behind. We do know that people cannot continue to be held on Nauru.

Australia must stand up to its responsibility.

#CloseTheCamps

#BringThemHere

NOW

More information:

• Amnesty International, End their Suffering and #BringThemHere now


• Australian Human Rights Commission, ‘The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry Into Children In Immigration Detention 2014’


• Parliament of Australia, Senate Journal, SJ No. 37 – 29 March 2017, 30 Asylum Seekers—Offshore Detention


• Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Detention Statistics


• Eric Tlozek, Manus and Nauru refugees told they'll be resettled in US, more approvals expected in coming months, 20 September 2017