Australia’s ‘inhuman’ offshore detention regime denounced by global human rights organisation

Australia’s reputation on human rights took a hit on the world stage last year, Human Rights Watch’s latest annual report has said, after the Labor government returned asylum seekers to offshore immigration on Nauru less than three months after the last detainees were removed. Despite labelling Australia as a “vibrant democracy” that “mostly protects the civil and political rights of its citizens”, the Australian chapter of the global human rights advocacy group has levelled heavy criticism at the federal government’s decade long “inhuman” offshore detention regime, with Australian director Daniela Gavshon describing the policy as “embarrassing” for the country.

Guardian Australia reported in October last year the Albanese government had quietly sent a group of asylum seekers to the Micronesian country just months after the last known detainees had been removed. Asylum seekers sent to Nauru by Australian government only months after last detainees were removed Read more Gavshon said Australia had earned an international reputation for abuses against refugees and asylum seekers that countries, such as the UK, were looking to emulate.

“We have seen that other countries are looking to copy it,” Gavshon told Guardian Australia. “It’s embarrassing that this would be something that Australia would export, or be known for.” Labor and the opposition share bipartisan support on offshore detention, with both sides saying it is a deterrent against people smuggling operations.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup But Gavshon said Australia was a signatory of the Refugee Convention, which obliges countries protect people fleeing persecution. “Detention, in any situation, should be used as an option of last resort, not as a deterrent,” she said.

“It’s just not good enough that they’ve become this intractable – they need to be issues that are being seriously addressed.” Elsewhere, the report noted ongoing issues with Indigenous incarceration rates and the unsuccessful referendum to establish an Indigenous voice to parliament. There were 19 Indigenous deaths in custody over 2023, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up one third of adult prison populations despite being just 3% of Australia’s population.

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For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion The Australian detention system was established to destroy us, but we refugees are still here | Behrouz Boochani Read more The Queensland government’s move to change laws allowing it to imprison children in police watch houses for adults, even if incompatible with human rights, is also named in the chapter.

Human Rights Watch points out Australia remains the only western country without a national Human Rights Act or constitutional charter . A parliamentary inquiry is under way into whether Australia should adopt a human rights framework and is due to report in March. Gavshon said she would also like to see Australia take a stronger stance on calling out human rights issues among trading partners.

She said it was important human rights stay at the centre of any ties with foreign nations, as opposed to “transactional diplomacy” – where trade and security are put above potential human rights abuses. “Australia should be a strong advocate of human rights and should be continually striving to improve its own record, but encouraging and urging its neighbours to be doing the same thing,” Gavshon said..