Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Does the minister accept that some people may have been coerced to return? I have been in contact today with two former detainees from Nauru. They do not know each other and do not speak the same language. They have both received formal repatriation offers and a promise of $2,000. They have told me that the department of immigration said to them: ‘You must go back. If you don’t agree you will be forced. Your case is closed, it will never be opened again and there is no way that you can stay. You have one month to agree and get the money. After this you go by force and get no money.’ Can the minister indicate whether or not this is an accurate reflection of what the department of immigration said to them and does the minister still claim that those who returned to Afghanistan and other countries from Nauru did so voluntarily and that they were given a genuine choice?