Nauru - Australia's offshore gulag. End the deportations. Close Nauru now
Schedule
Sat Feb 07 2026 at 04:00 am to 06:00 am
UTC+10:00Location
Tiered Theatrette, Ground floor, Brisbane Square Library, 266 George St, Brisbane. | Brisbane, QL
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Speakers include:* Andrew Bartlett - During the Howard era, Andrew was the first Australian politician and refugee advocate to visit Nauru in 2003.
* Hodan Yasin - Hodan is a Somali refugee exiled to Nauru in 2013 only to be medically evacuated later.
* Ian Rintoul - Ian is a long time refugee rights campaigner active with the Refugee Action Coalition in Sydney.
For over twenty years Australian governments have been fear mongering about refugees arriving by boat seeking asylum and have used Nauru, an island state smaller than Brisbane airport, as a place to dump unwanted people.
Shamefully, the Albanese Labor government is continuing this xenophobic and racist policy. At the end of 2025, six refugees living lawfully in the community, were picked up, detained and transported to Nauru where they are being held on 30 year visas issued by Nauru. Up to 353 refugees are on the government's short list for deportation. These refugees were freed from indefinite immigration detention by the High Court in November 2023; deporting them to Nauru is meant to keep Australia "safe".
There are al\eady about 100 asylum seekers languishing on Nauru, sent by the Labor after being intercepted at sea or arriving by boat.
For those dumped there without rights or a future, Nauru has been a hellhole. Mental illness, self harm, suicide, resignation sydrome and general misery has been the inevitable consequence.
The Nauru dumping ground too has come at an enormous cost. In July last year, the Australian government paid Nauru $408 million upfront and has committed to pay another $70 million a year for the next 30 years so that Australia can continue to warehouse refugees offshore. This comes on top of the billions successive governments have already spent detaining people in offshore detention centres since 2001.
Refugee activists and anti-racists in Australia have always fought against the dehumanisation of refugees and against the abuse of asylum seekers' human rights held in offshore detention on Nauru. This public meeting will discuss the need to raise awareness about the continuing use of Nauru as a dumping ground and look at ways we can campaign to "shut down Nauru".
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Where is it happening?
Tiered Theatrette, Ground floor, Brisbane Square Library, 266 George St, Brisbane., 37 North Quay, Brisbane City QLD 4000, Australia, BrisbaneEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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