The group of noncitizens set to be banished by Australia to Nauru for 30 years face a potentially hostile reception because they have been described as “violent” and “appalling” by the Australian government.
The forcible transfer of the so-called NZYQ group – and potentially thousands more under legislation currently before parliament – to the tiny island is being quietly resented by Nauruans, sources on the island have told Guardian Australia.
The NZYQ cohort is a group of 354 noncitizens in the Australian community who previously faced indefinite immigration detention because their visas had been cancelled on “character grounds” but who could not be returned to their home countries because they faced persecution, were stateless or because those countries refused to accept them.
The home affairs department revealed on Wednesday evening the just-signed transfer deal, worth $408m upfront to Nauru, as well as $70m a year for the life of the agreement, is forecast to cost Australia $2.5bn over 30 years.
Nauru is a small, familial and tight-knit society. The 11,000 people there know each other, are related to each other, and in large proportion work for the government that is dependent upon Australian aid money.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
“We wish the government didn’t do this to us, but we just have to accept [it],” one island source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. There is no independent media on Nauru and overt criticism of the government is rare.
“People are worried here,” another said. “But nobody asks us, or tells us: where will they live? Will they work here? I think it will be very difficult for them, just to go shopping, or to RoN [Republic of Nauru] Hospital, because everyone will know who they are,” another said.
Others have said they are “worried about our Pleasant Island”, using the former name for Nauru.
Mohammad, an asylum seeker who has been held on the island for more than a year, said it was known across Nauru that the group was being exiled from Australia because of “character grounds” or because of criminal convictions.
Some of the NZYQ cohort have significant criminal histories, including for violence, but others have never been convicted of a crime, or have historical, minor convictions for non-violent offences such as cannabis use. Many have lived in Australia for years, even decades, and have Australian citizen children and other family members.
When the government tried to move the first three of the cohort to Nauru in February this year, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, described them as “violent offenders” of “appalling character” who should be removed from Australia as soon as possible.
“Nauru is a very small place. I don’t think this will be good for them [the NZYQ cohort] to come, the government has told everybody these people are criminals, they are dangerous, they will do some wrong things,” Mohammad said.
“That is not fair, they have come from a very hard situation, very grave situation.”
Mohammad said Nauruans had followed the announcement of the deal: “One man said to me ‘why is our government taking this money and bring[ing] these people to Nauru’. He was shouting, angry.”
In November 2023, the high court ruled it was unlawful for the government to indefinitely detain them if there was “no real prospect” of them being removed from the country “in the reasonably foreseeable future”.
Earlier this year, the Nauruan president, David Adeang, defended the deal, saying those being sent to Nauru had been imprisoned but had “served their time”.
“Australia is trying to send them back to their country but they are not wanted back home. So we accepted them.”
In a televised address, Adeang said “the long-term goal remains the eventual repatriation of these individuals to their home countries, should circumstances allow”.
But Nauruans were divided by the agreement, some raised concerns about safety and social harmony and others decried their country’s exploitation as a “dumping ground” or “prison island” by Australia.
“It’ll be alright Australian government will be handing over some cash for our leaders to have them over and leaving amongst us [sic],” one said online.
“Government is so out of touch, turning this country into a sanctuary for illegals and criminals, this is more reflecting of them on how they see this country [sic],” another commented.
Late on Wednesday, the Senate held a three-hour hearing into the legislation that would allow the NZYQ group’s forcible transfer to Nauru on 30-year visas. However, the details of the MOU signed between Australia and Nauru have not been made available for public or parliamentary scrutiny.
Jana Favero, the deputy chief executive of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said Australians should be “outraged” by the government seeking to rush the legislation through parliament.
“This government is planning to pour hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into a secretive Nauru deal with no transparency or accountability,” she said.
“This is the second time the Albanese government has rushed migration legislation through parliament with no warning and a rushed, sham hearing with the Department of Home Affairs as the only witness … This is secrecy at its worst, a recipe for corruption and a disgraceful waste of public funds. We are literally paying for cruelty.”
Australia holds about 100 asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru, its “enduring” offshore processing site. Most have been on the island more than a year.
“Our situation here is very, very hard,” Mohammad said. “People are sick, people are distressed because we don’t know what our future will be, what will happen to our lives.”
