Australia has agreed to pay 28 million Australian dollars (about $20 million) in compensation to dozens of asylum seekers who were held at a remote immigration detention centre two decades ago.
The Woomera detention centre, located in the Australian desert, was opened in 1999 and within six months held nearly 1,500 people, many of them from Iraq and Afghanistan. About one-third of the detainees were children.
The centre faced strong criticism from human rights organisations over Australia’s strict asylum policies. Some detainees protested through hunger strikes, including sewing their lips shut, while others attempted mass escapes. The facility was closed in 2003.
The compensation agreement follows a recent High Court ruling that the Australian government could face claims for unlawful immigration detention.
Law firm Shine Lawyers said the government had agreed to settle a class action case involving 38 former detainees who alleged they suffered serious harm while held at Woomera and Baxter detention centres.
Lawyer Nicholas Kitchin said the settlement was an important moment but also a painful one, noting that some members of the group had died before seeing the outcome.
Australia later moved its offshore asylum processing system to Pacific locations, including Nauru and Manus Island, where asylum seekers waited for their refugee claims to be assessed.
Human rights advocates have also called on the government to urgently provide medical evacuation for a Kurdish-Iranian refugee on Manus Island, saying his physical and mental health has badly deteriorated.
The Australian government said responsibility for refugees remaining in Papua New Guinea lies with the PNG government after the asylum processing arrangement ended in 2022.
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