The UN this week expressed concern that Australia's policy of transferring asylum seekers to off-shore detention facilities, contravenes international human rights law in letter and spirit.
Expressing concern about the Australian High Court's decision on the deportation the spokesperson for the High Commissioner on Human Rights, Rupert Colville, said, “broader aspects of Australia’s policy on the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers arriving without prior authorisation, significantly contravenes the letter and spirit of international human rights law.”
"We believe that transferring these 267 individuals to Nauru could further damage their physical and mental health, and would put Australia at risk of breaching its obligation not to return any person to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under the Convention against Torture,” Mr Colville added.
