Australia to Compensate Asylum Seekers Held in Desert Detention

Australia has agreed to a A$28 million settlement to compensate dozens of asylum seekers who were held in the remote Woomera immigration detention center two decades ago. The conservative government at the time sought to deter boat arrivals through such policies.

The Woomera detention center, opened in 1999 in the southern Australian desert, housed nearly 1,500 people within six months, many from Iraq and Afghanistan, with children making up a third of the detainees. The center drew condemnation from human rights groups over Australia's punitive asylum seeker policies, marked by detainee protests including hunger strikes and attempted mass breakouts. The facility was eventually closed in 2003.

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Today is an important moment, but it is also one marked by grief. Some group members did not live to see this day.

This settlement comes after Australia's High Court ruled last week that the government cannot claim immunity from compensation for detentions found to be unlawful. Shine Lawyers announced on June 19 that the Australian government had agreed to settle a class action lawsuit brought by 38 former detainees alleging serious harm during their time in the Woomera and Baxter detention centers.

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For many group members, Australia is now home. They have built lives, families and communities here, while continuing to live with the consequences of an extraordinarily trying chapter in their lives.

Nicholas Kitchin of Shine Lawyers stated, "Today is an important moment, but it is also one marked by grief. Some group members did not live to see this day." He added, "For many group members, Australia is now home. They have built lives, families and communities here, while continuing to live with the consequences of an extraordinarily trying chapter in their lives."

A spokesperson for the Home Affairs department confirmed the matter was resolved "in accordance with legal principle and practice." Following the closure of desert camps, Australia shifted its approach to offshore processing, sending asylum seekers to facilities on Nauru and Manus Island in the Pacific. Separately, the Refugee Action Coalition urged the government on June 19 to medically evacuate a 36-year-old Kurdish-Iranian refugee, Hatam Yekta, from Manus Island, citing significant deterioration in his mental and physical health since his arrival in 2013.

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Hatam’s condition is an appalling example of the plight of the 10 or 12 refugees who are suffering serious mental health problems as a result of their mistreatment in Manus Island detention.