Australian court paves way for deportation of infant asylum seekers

The High Court has rejected a challenge against the lawfulness of the government’s role in offshore detention in Nauru.

“The plaintiff is not entitled to the declarations sought”, the court said in its majority decision.

The woman was transferred from Nauru to Brisbane for medical treatment after she suffered medical complications linked to her pregnancy.

However, he later ruled out resettling in Australia any asylum seekers in offshore detention.

He wants to get the number of children in detention down to zero, but says people smugglers are channelling that message to potential customers that “Dutton’s a soft touch and you can put women and children on boats and be successful”.

The Court unanimously held that those legal changes, backed by the Opposition in parliament, was authorised by valid laws, and as such, was not unconstitutional. Current and former child detainees at the Nauru camp described it to CNN as a prison.

Aside from the “obvious trauma” for parents and children of returning to Nauru, the nutritional needs of babies may not be met and they faced risks such as inadequate housing, safety and hygiene standards, he said.

He said Australia had to be mindful of the message being sent to people smugglers.

Even a “victory” on these questions would not necessarily free the asylum seekers from the prospect of return to Nauru, because the Australian and Nauru governments can say asylum seekers are no longer detained on the island. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is expected to address that rally.

“It’s undeniable that Nauru is unsafe for women and children and sending them back would be torture”, she said.

Although the “open centre” arrangement is effectively in name only, with asylum seekers still required to live in detention centres and restrictions reportedly be placed on what they can take in and out of the centres, the Australian government was clearly relying on this new open centre arrangement as part of its argument in the High Court.

“This is the first major test for the Prime Minister”.

On Tuesday Save the Children’s Lee Gordon, who directed the charity’s child protection, welfare, education and recreation programmes at Nauru for nearly two years, said he knew first-hand the “devastating psychological and physical harm that is caused to asylum seekers and refugees living in Nauru”.

Not-for-profit group ChilOut also voiced concerns for the children, including the 37 babies born in Australia.

The latter change could make it harder to draw conclusions from the decision about the legality of the detention arrangement on Manus Island, where more than 900 men remain in what amounts to indefinite custody in harsh conditions.