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The Pacific island nation is exploring returning refugees from the NZYQ cohort to their countries of origin, as stated by the island's leader in a newly interpreted interview from February.

This interview has sparked extended dispute, with inaccurate assertions that those transferred to the island were not asylum seekers and might be sent back to their countries of origin where possible.

Asylum Claims Recognized

Authorities have verified that members of the cohort in question have had their refugee protection claims accepted by Australian authorities. Some of the individuals currently on the island to Nauru are among those who are asylum seekers.

A partial transcript of the interview was earlier disclosed, and the full transcript was entered into official records by lawmakers recently.

Translation Dispute

The translation submitted was not the Australian government’s document, but a separately obtained translation acquired by a refugee support organization.

Authorities has consistently resisted disclosure of its interpretation of the discussion, including obtaining a gag order in the federal court.

Addressing a official request to produce the official translation, the foreign affairs minister argued that its publication would “damage diplomatic standing … and our overall position in the region.”

Forced Removals and Legal Obligations

At least five individuals of the NZYQ cohort have been sent to Nauru and are being detained at a regional processing centre on the island nation.

The government is bound by law to safeguard asylum seekers under the refugees convention and cannot return them to their country of origin where they face a “well-founded fear of being targeted.”

Should that return is carried out through a another state – including Nauru – it is prohibited, known in global legal standards as “indirect refoulement.”

The island nation is bound to the convention.

Interview Details

Adeang gave the discussion in winter, addressing in his native tongue to a employee, and outlining the bilateral arrangement Nauru had signed with the Australian government to accept members of the designated group.

This agreement will see Australia transfer money a maximum of $2.5 billion over the next thirty years.

The president said those sent to the island by authorities would remain in Nauru for a 30-year period.

“However, we, your government, identify a solution for them to move around, for example; they can be sent back,” he said. “The challenge is unable to deport them, these people are what you would describe as lacking nationality. “Their countries of origin refuse to accept them and they are unable to return. And if in the future we find a way to send them back then naturally they will not reach the full term, but the permit we are providing them to begin is 30 years.”

Sources indicate none of the men sent to Nauru under the arrangement so far are without citizenship.

Erroneous Statements

The president repeatedly said – incorrectly – that individuals of the NZYQ cohort were not refugees.

“To clarify, these people are not refugees. They are ordinary individuals but their background is that they have served prison sentences. “Now, they are at liberty around Australia and while they are no longer under penalties but they are not natives and regardless of official intent to return them, they are cannot.”

Background on NZYQ Cohort

The individuals is a group of 354 non-residents discharged from ongoing detention in the country after a supreme court decision in late 2023.

Their visas had been revoked on “behavioral reasons”, the majority as a result of a prior crime. The majority have finished a jail term but cannot be returned to their home countries because they risk harm there. A number have been in Australia for a long time and have Australian-citizen partners and children.

Criticism and Concerns

A political figure remarked that the assertion that the NZYQ cohort were not asylum seekers was “clearly incorrect.”

“Was this misinformation from officials? Did … our government mislead the Nauruan government? Do they agree with what the leader said about these people not being refugees? None of them refugees? “Officials may be ashamed by the fact that President Adeang has made it very clear he seeks to send them back from the place of origin. We know that they have escaped harm generally.”

A senior advocate at a refugee support organization said the Australian government’s secrecy around its offshore program was “deeply alarming.”

He said the secrecy and cover-ups eroded public trust, and misconduct prospered in the secrecy of the offshore regime.

“The transcript discloses initially that Nauru plans to send people back to their countries of origin ‘should a method be found’, despite the fact that these are people Australia has not returned to their country of origin because they are refugees. This means the authorities has effectively outsourced forcible return – funding an intermediary to do what Australia cannot lawfully do.”

He said the Adeang interview – the disclosure of which was resisted by the authorities – exposed a concerning flaw.

“Australia states it adheres to global standards while discreetly compensating for refugees to be deported to harm via intermediary arrangements.”

A senior lawyer of a legal center said the government had tried to conceal “nearly every detail” of its arrangement with Nauru.

“Now we learn that the island's authorities might not plan of holding up its end of this lamentable deal.”

She said the forced removals to Nauru must be stopped, because the government cannot ensure individuals' security.

“Our government is tearing people away from their homes and loved ones in the country and sending them away to a location where they are unaccepted. The authorities has understood that it could be exposing people to their demise – through lack of healthcare they need to survive, or by forcing them back to the states they escaped from.”

Requests for comment have been made to the authorities and the island's administration.