Legally, the Australian government can continue to keep refugees in offshore detention centres, where they face alleged sexual and physical abuse.
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On February 3, the High Court found the federal government has the power under the constitution to detain people in other countries.
When the High Court can find that returning vulnerable people to isolated facilities where there have been many allegations of abuse is lawful, there is something ethically wrong with the justice system.
One of the detainees facing being returned to Nauru, a five-year-old boy, was allegedly raped on the island. His alleged rapist still remains at the detention centre.
The decision is despite the government's top medical adviser on immigration detention, John Brayley, admitting keeping children behind wire has a "deleterious" effect on their mental health.
Abuse against refugees in offshore detention has been frequently reported in the media, for instance in 2015 the operator of the Nauru detention centre, Transfield Services, said there had been 67 child abuse allegations at the facility - 30 against staff and 37 against asylum seekers.
This is in addition to an independent review that found evidence of rape, sexual assault of minors, and guards trading marijuana for sexual favours from female detainees at the facility.
The Bega Valley community is clearly empathising with the refugees facing deportation, with a snap Let Them Stay protest organised to take place in Bega on February 8, to encourage the federal government to allow the children to stay on the mainland.
For both humane and economic reasons, it makes sense to settle and process refugees in Australia.
The Refugee Action Coalition claims per year that detaining an asylum seeker on Manus or Nauru costs $400,000, while detention in Australia costs $239,000. In addition, allowing asylum seekers to live in the community while their claims are processed costs $12,000.
So why does the government continue to detain asylum seekers offshore? Telling immigrants they “will not make Australia home” is hypocritical coming from a colonial government.
