Australia has signed a $400m deal with Nauru, including about $70m a year plus an upfront fee, to receive around 280 non-citizens whose visas were cancelled on character grounds. The cohort, known as NZYQ, previously faced indefinite immigration detention because deportation was blocked by persecution risks or refusal by home countries. A November 2023 High Court ruling made indefinite detention unlawful when removal was not reasonably foreseeable, prompting releases. The memorandum includes undertakings for proper treatment and long-term residence in Nauru and aims to underpin Nauru's economic resilience. Critics say the arrangement effectively transfers responsibility and limits domestic removal options.
The deal relates to about 280 non-citizens in the Australian community who are known as the NZYQ cohort, who previously faced indefinite immigration detention. These people could not be deported to their home countries because they faced persecution, or because those countries refused to accept them. In November 2023, the high court ruled it was unlawful for the government to indefinitely detain a person if there was no real prospect of them being removed from the country in the reasonably foreseeable future.
In a statement uploaded to the home affairs department website on Friday afternoon, Burke said the deal contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru. The statement said Australia's funding would underpin this arrangement and support Nauru's long-term economic resilience. Anyone who doesn't have a valid visa should leave the country, said Burke in a statement.
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