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Australia Under Fire for Separating Refugee Families

by Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA --

   The Australian government is facing pressure from the United Nations
   High Commissioner for Refugees to end its policy of separating refugee
   families, which the U.N. says has devastating psychological
   consequences.

   Australia has been separating refugee families since 2013 as a way of
   deterring people from coming by sea to Australia to claim asylum. Under
   its so-called policy of "offshore processing and deterrence,"
   asylum-seekers are sent to Nauru or Papua New Guinea and are only
   allowed into Australia for temporary medical reasons.

   The U.N. refugee agency says the policy has prevented asylum-seekers
   from reuniting with their spouses, parents and children in Australia.

   UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says the latest example is a Sri Lankan
   father who was deported overnight, leaving his 30-year-old partner and
   their 11-month-old daughter in Australia. Both had been granted asylum
   last week.

   "This latest one goes beyond just the refusal to reunite family but,
   instead, it is actively and indefinitely separating them," Mahecic
   said. "'¦ as the relationship with either an Australian permanent
   resident or a citizen is an eligibility requirement for all family
   visas, these people are essentially precluded from sponsoring and
   reuniting with their family members."

   The UNHCR reports a number of instances where refugee children have
   been forced to remain on Nauru, separated from parents who were sent to
   Australia for medical care. Such separations have devastating mental
   health consequences, according to the UNHCR.