A Timeline of Despair in Australia’s Offshore Detention Centers

Human rights groups call them a violation of international law. The Australian government says they are crucial to regulating the flow of immigration.
But one thing is indisputable about Australia’s offshore detention centers on the islands of Manus and Nauru: Despair is soaring among asylum seekers being held there.
Since Australia’s national election on May 18, which returned to power a conservative government that has maintained hard-line policies intended to deter asylum seekers, there have been dozens of suicide attempts and acts of self-harm at the refugee centers.
“It’s hard to know how many cases are serious cases of people trying to end their lives or a cry for help, but in any case it’s a big escalation,” said Elaine Pearson, the Australia director for Human Rights Watch, who has made several visits to Manus. “People are very worried they are going to be completely forgotten about.”

The Australian government argues that its strict border protection policy, which bars settlement for migrants who try to reach the country by sea, has worked: Fewer boats with asylum seekers on board are trying to reach Australia compared to a decade ago.
Australia’s immigration policies received a forceful endorsement on Thursday morning from President Trump, who was scheduled to have dinner that evening with Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Osaka, Japan.

What is indisputable about Australia’s offshore detention centers on the islands of Manus and Nauru: Despair is soaring among asylum seekers being held there.
Since Australia’s national election on May 18, which returned to power a conservative government that has maintained hard-line policies intended to deter asylum seekers, there have been dozens of suicide attempts and acts of self-harm at the refugee centers.


But many of the detainees on Manus and Nauru, cognizant of Australian polls that showed the opposition Labor Party leading before the May election, had hoped a change in immigration policy was on the horizon. When Labor lost, desperation intensified.
Adding to the despair, the United States has rejected resettlement applications for roughly 300 refugees on the two islands, despite a deal reached by the Obama administration to take in more than 1,000 of them.