Probe into refugee abuse to embarrass Australia: Activist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Mimi al-Laham, an activist and political commentator, to discuss the reports of abuse in the Australian-run offshore detention facility on the Pacific island of Nauru.

Here is a rough transcription of the interview:

Press TV: What is going on in these detention centers and why is the government keeping quiet about it?

Laham: Well basically the government has pursued a policy of deterrence for refugees and this included any refugees that would come to Australia by boat would be sent offshore to a camp in the island state of Nauru and basically they would be treated very badly and told they would never be settled in Australia.

This was supposed to deter refugees from attempting to come to Australia. Unfortunately the people that were sent to this island which is a very small island in 40 degree heat, some of them are families with children and they have stayed at this camp for years, they are not allowed to leave.

There have been many reports of rape, torture, child abuse, people sewing their lips together in protest, people setting themselves on fire and one recent case of a man who set himself on fire did not get any medical treatment and died as a subsequent result of that.

The Australian government actually hired a private company to run this Nauru island prison, it is called Serco and actually this company Serco also runs prisons for criminals, not just refugees and it is said that Nauru island is sort of run the same way. The Australian government has also been bribing Nauru to house these refugees, of course it is a small island and the number of refugees even doubles its population, and the cost to the Australian government per year has been 847 million.

So this is not an issue of whether or not Australia has the resources to accept these refugees, it is more of a political statement and has been part of the re-electing campaign for the government because there has been some negative public perception of the refugees and this has been a part of it.

The reason why there has been a cover-up as well is because this has obviously caused an international embarrassment for the Australian government and in fact last year the Australian government made a criminal offense that people can end up in jail for two years if they were to work in this island and then leak information about the abuses that were going on there. They were forced to sign this disclosure agreement. However, these individuals, a few of them have decided not to stick with that and have released documented statements, teachers, doctors, about what is really going on in this island and obviously now due to the international outcry about these abuses, the Australian government might have to change its position.

Press TV: Canberra is staring down the barrel at two different inquiries. One is being called by the opposition. The other one has prompted the UN basically to call for an investigation, demanded that those responsible to be held accountable. Which of these two inquiries has the innate prospect of eventually changing the situation for the refugees?

Laham: I would say the United Nations because the opposition here, they have their own issues when it comes to refugees, they have made similar contributions to the abuses. The opposition here is very closely politically aligned with the Liberal Party - Labor and Liberal - they are very similar in any case. The real cause for change might be this United Nations investigation because it will cause Australia international embarrassment and that is something that they really would like to avoid.

There are better solutions to this, temporary visas, even allowing these people back to their countries because once they get on this island they basically are not allowed to leave these fenced-off camps. So there has to be a better solution than leaving them on what is essentially a prisoner camp, prisoner island and torturing them as a deterrence for other refugees to come because it is probably not going to stop other refugees.

The only thing that would stop refugees from trying to get to the West is an end to war. But of course the Australian government for the last decade, the various Australian governments including the Liberal Party has been one of the members that have created these wars; they have created the refugee crisis that we are in right now. 

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