Migration (Regional Processing Country—Republic of Nauru) Designation (LIN 23/017) 2023, dated 5 February 2023 designates the Republic of Nauru as a regional processing country to enable the operation of section 198AD of the Migration Act in relation to the Republic of Nauru as it is in the national interest.
The instrument enables the operation of section 198AD of the Migration Act in relation to the Republic of Nauru. Subsection 198AD(1) provides that, subject to sections 198AE, 198AF and 198AG, an officer must take an unauthorised maritime arrival to whom section 198AD applies from Australia to a regional processing country.
The only condition for the exercise of the power under subsection 198AB(1) is that the Minister thinks that it is in the national interest to designate the country as a regional processing country.
Paragraph 198AB(3)(a) of the Migration Act provides that in considering the national interest, the Minister must have regard to whether or not the country has given Australia any assurances to the effect that the country will not expel or return a person taken to the country under subsection 198AD of the Migration Act to another country where the person’s life or freedom would be threatened on account of the person’s race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion and that the country will make an assessment, or permit an assessment to be made, of whether or not a person taken to the country is covered by the definition of refugee in Article 1A of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees as amended by the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.
The instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation and commenced on 7 February 2023. It is currently in force.
To access the instrument, click here.
