Greens, Labor Call For Gov Apology On Wrongly Deporting Nauru Aid Workers

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Published

January 16, 2016

Ministers from both the Greens and Labor are asking the Liberal government to apologise for their role in needlessly deporting ten Save The Children staff from Nauru in 2014.

Yesterday, an official report was released detailing the deportations. In it, the charity’s staff were found not to have lied about the poor living conditions in Australia’s detention centres on the island, nor were they making up reports of sexual assaults against asylum seekers. It’s the second report of its kind outlining the staff’s innocence.

The release of the reports also comes after Save The Children’s offices were raided on Nauru last year under dubious circumstances.

South Australian Greens senator and long-time opponent of offshore detention Sarah Hanson-Young said the government should own their mistakes with an apology to the charity, before following up with more stringent protections for asylum seeker advocates.

Govt must drop the whistleblower witch hunt and give a full apology & compensation to Save the Children workers https://t.co/iDUsFoLYe7

— Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) January 16, 2016

PM should now ensure new laws currently before parliament for mandatory reporting of detention abuse & whistleblower protections are passed

— Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) January 16, 2016

The Guardian reports Shadow Immigration Minister Richard Marles also offered his take on the report, saying the Government are liable to give the aid group an apology.

The new calls for an apology join those from the group itself. Yesterday, Save The Children’s Chief Exec Paul Ronalds said an admission of guilt was definitely owed by the powers that be.

According to the ABC, the former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison implied Save The Children’s statement on the alleged abuse was part of a political play against Australia’s offshore detention regime.

Meanwhile, activists are calling on current Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to explain the now-unavoidable problem with sexual abuse in Australia’s off-shore detention centres.