YAREN – The Nauruan government is backtracking somewhat on its commitment to process 600 refugee claims “within the week”, saying about 400 will be completed by Sunday but others may not be concluded for several weeks.

The Pacific nation issued a statement on Monday declaring it would quickly finalise the claims of all remaining asylum seekers.

The country also announced curfews would be lifted, making the Australian Government-funded facility an “open centre”.

However, the government has conceded its promise to process all refugee claims this week will not be met.

A Nauruan government official confirmed that about 75 per cent of refugee claims processed on the Pacific island have been accepted, potentially leaving 25 per cent of the 600 remaining asylum seekers being told to return to their countries of origin or to lodge an appeal.

Refugee lawyers and others have been recruited to speed up refugee determinations, which the government says will be more than 26 times faster than the processing rate to date.

Nauru Department of Justice and Border Control deputy director Shyla Vohra has since said the government now expects to finalise 400 refugee claims by Sunday.

It will not give determinations to people who have been transported out of the country for medical reasons, nor will it do so for their family members because “family claims should be determined and handed down together”, she said.

Determinations will also be withheld in cases where assessments are not yet complete, if asylum seekers have raised additional claims since their interview or further research is required. These remaining cases “will be done as soon as possible”, she said.

The determination of 400 refugee claims in one week still leaves questions over how this will be achieved, given Nauru had been working through about 15 each week until now.

Vohra said almost all asylum seekers had already been interviewed, detailed assessments had been drawn up and recommendations made.

Senior legal staff then conduct a “quality control process” over each assessment to ensure consistency, accuracy and quality, before they are reviewed by the Secretary for Justice.

Vohra said about 20 additional staff had been recruited to handle the workload, and the team had identified some applications requiring more work.

“There are going to be some cases that can’t be finalised quickly for whatever reason, or where people need to be re-interviewed, or where we consider we need further information or further research to be done.

“The remaining cases where we need to do further research and re-interviews we’re hoping to get done in the next few weeks – it depends on the complexity of the case really.”

The one-week timeframe also will not apply to people who have raised additional claims after their initial interview.

Vohra said about 75 per cent of asylum seekers processed have been recognised as refugees, but most whose claims have been rejected are appealing.

“After their final appeal is heard, a person who is not found to be a refugee is expected to return home or may be removed,” Vohra said.

Despite the new “open centre” arrangement on Nauru, it is expected some asylum seekers and refugees will return to the detention centre each night to sleep.

Hard-walled, air conditioned units on land inside the detention centre are being constructed as settlement accommodation.

For those who opt to live outside the centre, Vohra said a number of recently built apartments may be used and more units are being built.

About 569 refugees presently reside at Nauru comprising 208 adult men, 46 adult females, 289 in family groups and 26 who were classed as unaccompanied refugee minors, but are mostly now aged over 18.

Many live in accommodation outside the centre. They do not pay rent and receive a living allowance, Vohra said.

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said Nauru had made misleading claims all week.

“What we’ve seen from the Nauru government all week is spin, what we’ve seen from the Australian government is more hiding behind the spin of the Nauruan government,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

“It seemed quite surprising that the Nauru government could go from processing virtually nobody to all of a sudden getting 600 claims done by the end of the week.”

Senator Hanson-Young said the process should be fair and thorough, and added that people might need help with their claims.

“A proper process that ensures their claims are assessed fully and that they have a fair process to appeal,” she said.

“This can’t just be a tick and flick – this has to ensure that people at the end of the day are given protection.”

Monday’s decision to process all remaining asylum seekers came just days before a legal challenge examining the Australian government’s role in the centre’s operation.

However Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the announcement from Nauru had nothing to do with the court case.

Over the past two days the full bench of the High Court heard arguments that it was illegal for the government to operate and pay for offshore detention in a third country.

If the court agrees, the whole offshore detention regime could be deemed invalid.