October 28, 2025 | 07:46 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Australia has begun transferring immigrants to the remote Pacific island nation of Nauru under a controversial agreement signed earlier this year, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, as reported by Japan Today.
The group, consisting of around 350 people, many of whom had been convicted of serious crimes such as assault, drug trafficking, and even murder, was sent to the low-lying atoll after Australia failed to resettle them elsewhere.
“Nauru confirmed last Friday that the first transfer had occurred,” Burke said in a statement, without specifying how many immigrants had already been sent.
For years, the individuals had been held in Australia’s immigration detention system after their visas were revoked due to violent offenses or other concerns raised by officials.
However, Australia was unable to deport them to their home countries, where they could face serious risks such as war or religious persecution.
A landmark 2023 High Court ruling found that Australia had violated the law by holding the immigrants indefinitely when there was no destination to which they could be deported.
Facing political backlash after the detainees were released and reintegrated into society, the Australian government sought assistance from its Pacific neighbor, Nauru.
Under a confidential deal, Australia is reportedly paying Nauru hundreds of millions of dollars to resettle the group, though most of the agreement’s details remain undisclosed.
In return, Nauru has agreed to grant the immigrants long-term visas and allow them to live freely among its roughly 12,500 residents.
Australia has long faced international criticism for its offshore detention policy, under which asylum seekers were sent to “processing centers” in Papua New Guinea and Nauru — facilities often described as overcrowded and unsanitary.
The policy has been gradually scaled back following at least 14 detainee deaths, several suicide attempts, and six referrals to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
As of January this year, Nauru’s detention facility still housed around 100 people, according to United Nations data cited by Amnesty International.
Once among the world’s richest nations per capita thanks to phosphate mining, Nauru has since fallen into economic decline, leaving much of its land barren and environmentally damaged.
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