Please read this informative article published today in The Guardian regarding international law and Australia's offshore detention.

In a letter to the independent MP for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, the office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor said conditions in the Australian-run camps on Nauru and PNG’s Manus Island were dangerous and harsh and that:

"some of the conduct at the processing centres on Nauru and on Manus Island appears to constitute the underlying act of imprisonment or other severe deprivations of physical liberty under article 7(1)(e) of the statute [crimes against humanity].”

The ICC prosecutor also stated in this letter that Australia’s offshore detention regime is a “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment” unlawful under international law.

Around 230 refugees and asylum seekers remain on Nauru, and around 180 in Papua New Guinea. Several dozen are undertaking the process for resettlement in America.

The New Zealand offer to take 150 refugees remains open. Why has Australia still not accepted this longstanding offer?

Thank you to everyone who has signed, shared and continued to support this important humanitarian petition.

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