Refugees have nowhere to go

The Refugee Action Coalition says the Australian government’s policies towards asylum seekers have left genuine refugees on Nauru and PNG with nowhere to go.

Spokesperson Ian Rintoul says while Nauru for instance has granted refugee status to people from the Australian run asylum seeker camps on the island, there is no permanent resettlement for them on Nauru.

He says they’ve only been given temporary resident status and currently live in an area called the Fly Camp.

A recent statement from refugees in Fly Camp say conditions there are worse than at the processing centre.

Rintoul says the Australian government has already said refugees won’t be resettled in Australia. “It’s drawn PNG and Nauru as places that are willing to accept asylum seekers being dumped in their countries but neither country has got any proposal to resettle the people who are found to be refugees.”

Rintoul says Nauru and the Australian government have said they won’t be assisting refugees to get to a third country.