UN expert delays Australia migrant visit

Independent UN expert Francois Crepeau said he had postponed his trip to gather first-hand information on the situation of migrants and asylum seekers in Australia and its detention centers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea after the Australian government denied him access to any offshore center.

Crepeau said the government had also given no satisfactory response to his requests to guarantee that no one would face reprisals for speaking with him about life in the detention centers. Australian law makes it illegal to disclose "protected information" about the centers. Offenders can receive a prison sentence of up to two years for violating the so-called Border Force Act, which went into effect in 2015.

"This threat of reprisals with persons who would want to cooperate with me on the occasion of this official visit is unacceptable," he said in a statement.

"As the Australian government was not prepared to give the written assurances required ... it was not possible for me to carry out the visit in my capacity as a UN independent expert," he added.

The visit was to have begun on Sunday.

Hardline immigration policies

The Australian government said on Saturday that Crepeau's decision was "disappointing and unfortunate."

A statement from an Immigration Ministry spokesman said the government had "accommodated to the fullest extent possible the requests of the office of the special rapporteur," adding that access to the refugee processing centers in Papua New Guinea and Nauru was "the responsibility of these sovereign nations."

Australia has long come under intense criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups over its harsh asylum-seeker policies, which see boats carrying refugees being turned back to Indonesia when possible.

Children at risk?

Other refugees are sent to detention camps on Manus island in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru, with some rights group voicing concerns about conditions at those centers and particularly about the safety and well-being of the children held in them.

Asylum seekers coming by boat and sent to the camps are ultimately denied permanent resettlement in Australia even if they prove they are genuine refugees.

New Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Wednesday he was "concerned" about the centers, but did not say whether he would make any changes to the hardline policies.

tj/sms (dpa, AFP, Reuters)