Final refugee children leave Nauru for US

The final four refugee children have been taken off Nauru and flown to the US.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

The final four refugee children have been taken off Nauru and flown to the US more than five years after minors were sent to the island nation for offshore processing, with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton lauding the development as a “big achievement”.

Nineteen refugees — including three families with the four children, two single women and seven single men — left Nauru yesterday afternoon, taking the total number of people from Manus ­Island and Nauru resettled in the US to 493.

The refugees were Iranian, ­Sudanese, Ethiopian, Pakistani and others considered stateless.

The government has worked to get the remaining children off Nauru as it faced increasing pressure from Labor, the Greens and key independents such as Kerryn Phelps, who was elected in October and campaigned on the issue.

“We have been working for ­almost six years to get to this point. All I hope now is the boats don’t restart with a new wave of kids after Labor’s crazy laws that have weakened our borders,” Mr Dutton told The Australian.

“I pay tribute to everyone involved in Operation Sovereign Borders. We haven’t had a death at sea in a long time. To get all the kids out of detention put there by Labor — it’s a big achievement.”

A further 18 male refugees from Manus Island flew to the US on Tuesday. The US has agreed to take up to 1250 refugees from Nauru and Manus Island under a pact made between former president Barack Obama and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, which has been honoured by ­Donald Trump.

The first group of children to be sent to Nauru under the former Labor government’s revived offshore processing policy arrived in August 2013, when Kevin Rudd was prime minister. Scott Morrison as immigration minister said there had been 1392 children in detention, including in offshore processing centres, when Labor lost office in September 2013.

The Australian and Nauru kids

With Bill Shorten under attack from the government for his party’s support of the controversial medivac bill, opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann welcomed the “good and overdue news” of all children being removed from Nauru.

But he added: “There is still no long-term plan for some 900 refugees, including children and their families, the Morrison government has transferred to Australia.

“Scott Morrison should start by immediately accepting New Zealand’s offer to resettle refugees and negotiate appropriate conditions similar to those under the US arrangements.”

Dr Phelps said there was no doubt the national prominence of the “get kids off Nauru” campaign had helped reduce the number to zero: “At the time of the Wentworth by-election there were more than 50 children on Nauru and I campaigned on the fact that this was a national shame.

“This should have happened a long time ago, but I’m very glad that all of the children have been moved elsewhere.

“There are, however, some people left behind who have turned 18 since arriving on Nauru and we need to be mindful of their welfare. That’s why a regional resettlement plan is so import for the health and wellbeing of those still on Manus Island and Nauru.”

The Coalition has transferred 915 people from Manus Island and Nauru for treatment in Australia.

Government sources said two-thirds of transferees were involved in legal proceedings, either challenging determinations they were not refugees or attempting to prevent their return offshore.

The Weekend Australian revealed this month taxpayers had paid $60 million over five years for the government to defend cases brought by illegal maritime arrivals hoping to stay in Australia.