Suspension of The Policy
During the campaign for the 2007 parliamentary election, Australian Labor Party candidate Kevin Rudd promised to put an end to the Pacific Solution if he were elected. Upon assuming office in December, Rudd confirmed that the detention centres on Manus Island and on Nauru would be closed. The seven asylum seekers from Myanmar and 75 of the 83 from Sri Lanka were determined to be genuine refugees and granted the right to settle in Australia. An additional 6 Sri Lankans had been found to be genuine refugees but had wrongly been charged with sexual assault; those charges were dropped in January 2008, making it possible for the six men to be resettled in Australia (pending standard health and character checks). Of the two remaining Sri Lankans, one is appealing the rejection of his refugee application, while the other is currently (as of January 2008) hospitalised in Australia. The first 21 Sri Lankan refugees arrived in Australia for resettlement in January 2008. The final 21 arrived in Australia on 8 February, leaving the detention camp empty and marking the end of the Pacific Solution.
Nauru has reacted with concern at the prospect of potentially losing much-needed aid from Australia. Opposition immigration spokesman Chris Ellison said the closure could suggest to people-smugglers that Australia was weakening on border protection.
Read more about this topic: Pacific Solution
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