00:00Two really serious decisions made here by the UN Human Rights Committee to do with asylum
00:08seekers and refugees held in detention on Nauru. So two cases, but I want to focus on
00:16one of them to do with 24 unaccompanied minors. Now they were fleeing persecution from their
00:22home countries. They were en route to Australia, intercepted and then transferred, this was
00:27in 2014, to Nauru. And this statement that we've seen from the UN Human Rights Committee
00:34talks about the conditions there, saying that there was insufficient water supply and sanitation,
00:40inadequate healthcare. Almost all of those people, they say, suffered in terms of their
00:47mental health and also physical wellbeing as well. So saying too that that group of
00:55people remained there in detention, even though all but one of them was granted refugee
01:00status. So the complainants have argued here that Australia violated its international
01:07obligations, particularly to do with arbitrary detention. Now this statement from the UN
01:14says that Australia argued that there was no valid substantiation that this happened
01:20within Australia's jurisdiction, saying that it happened in Nauru. But the counterargument
01:26to that and what the UN Committee established was that Australia had significant control
01:32and influence. So we should have a statement that we can bring you on screen now with a
01:38quote from a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, talking about that these decisions
01:44sent a clear message to all states, saying where there is power or effective control,
01:50there is responsibility. The outsourcing of operations does not absolve states of accountability.
01:56Offshore detention facilities are not human rights free zones for the state party. So
02:02saying where a state has effective control, its obligations under international law remain
02:08firmly in place. Also calling on Australia to provide some sort of adequate compensation
02:14to victims. Also calling for reform to ensure that a similar situation doesn't happen again,
02:21suggesting that there needs to be a review of migration laws in the country. Now I have
02:27been in touch with the federal government. We're expecting to receive comment from the
02:31Home Affairs Department soon, but haven't received it just yet.
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