Behind the snap decision to remove all asylum-seeker children from Nauru was a carefully orchestrated campaign to harness the power of the News Corp tabloids.
With few people-smuggling boats in operation, asylum seekers in Indonesia now face living on the streets as detention centres close their doors following Australia’s funding cuts, in what appears to be the latest deterrence strategy.
After weeks of lobbying in Canberra, a leading paediatrician fears Australia’s toxic refugee politics will strand children on Nauru in a dire medical emergency.
The passing of the fifth anniversary of offshore detention on Manus has seen those incarcerated on the island sink further into mental despair and physical surrender.
In Sydney’s west, the Uygur community has joined calls for Australia to sanction China over its internment of more than one million members of the Muslim minority.
As host of this week’s Pacific Islands Forum, Nauru faced uncomfortable questions about its compromised relationship with Australia and censure of its stance towards China.
As Peter Dutton faces criticism over his intervention in au pair visas, details emerge of his involvement in cabinet discussions of child-care funding.
The lives of children detained on Nauru are hanging in the balance due to traumatic withdrawal syndrome, while the government fights in court to prevent them receiving medical care.
