Christians advocating for children to be removed from Nauru – where they have been held under the Australian Government’s immigration policies – have welcomed news that the final four children and their families are leaving the Pacific Ocean island.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the annoucement on Sunday morning, saying all four chidlren and their families have been “approved for departure” to the US but did not give a date for their departure. There were some 109 children on Nauru when he took office last August.
Matt Darvas, campaign director for Micah Australia – a coalition of Australia’s largest Christian NGOs, paid tribute to those involved in the campaign to see the children taken off the island.
“This has been an extraordinary campaign, led by Australia’s humanitarian and refugee sector with many thousands across the country raising their voice on behalf of these children” he said in a statement. “It has been incredible to watch the momentum build in churches and in the public, and it’s proof that when we raise our voice together, change can happen.”
Clare Rogers, chief executive of World Vision Australia who launched the #KidsOffNauru campaign in August last year with the support of many organisations, said the campaign had been successful because “once ordinary Australians realised that the [Australian] Government was locking up kids in our name, they made it clear they wouldn’t stand for it”.
She paid tribute to the lawyers who had argued in court that seriously sick children should be transferred to Australia.
“If it wasn’t for the extraordinary efforts from refugee advocates and lawyers working day and night to represent these families, I am doubtful that the 119 children who were still on the island when Kids Off Nauru launched would have been transferred,” she said.
Rogers noted that there were more than 1,000 people still on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island and Nauru as a result of Australia’s immigration policies, including many young adults sent there as children. She called on political leaders to create a pathway under which those who are sick can come to Australia for medical treatment.
Meanwhile, among those Micah paid tribute to for their work in supporting the campaign are Christian organisations like Common Grace and Love Makes A Way as well as prominent individuals such as RICE Movement founder Steve Chong, authors and public commentators John Dickson and Mike Frost, singer Brooke Fraser, Anglican leaders Archbishop Glenn Davies and Dr Andreas Loewe, and Melbourne church leaders Rob and Christie Buckingham.
Micah’s Matt Darvas also acknowledged the work of the National Justice Project’s lawyers, doctors and case workers who he said “have worked tirelessly in the courts and had to fight for this every step of the way”.
