Taiwan’s agreement with Australia to accept its asylum seekers held on Nauru makes the government complicit in human rights violations.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/06/28
By: Brian Hioe, 破土 New Bloom

Photo Credit: Reuters/達志影像

A secret deal between Taiwan and Australia to treat refugees from Nauru denied admittance to Australia by the Turnbull government proves a shameful episode of complicity by Taiwan in the human rights abuses of the Australian and Nauru governments.

However, this has not prevented the Tsai administration from attempting to spin the episode as a contribution of Taiwan to international human rights and a sign of close ties with international allies. This was revealed after a report in the Sydney Morning Herald broke the story, with the Taiwanese and Australia governments later confirming the report’s veracity.

It has been a practice of the Australian government for some years to prevent asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australia by boat from reaching its shores and claiming asylum by detaining them in offshore immigration centers in the island nation of Nauru and on Manus Island in neighboring Papua New Guinea.    [FULL  STORY]