Australia's arbitrary offshore detention of asylum seekers is under fire, with the United Nations claiming it should assume direct responsibility in the form of compensation.
The UN's human rights committee handed down findings overnight for two cases involving separate groups of refugees and asylum seekers, who filed complaints after being detained arbitrarily and for prolonged periods on Nauru.
Since July 2013, successive federal governments have maintained a policy of not allowing people who arrive by boat to ever resettle in Australia.
In response to the ruling, the Department of Home Affairs said it had been the consistent position that Australia did not exercise effective control over regional processing centres.
"The Australian government engages in good faith with the United Nations Human Rights Committee in relation to any complaint received and is considering the committee’s views on each matter and will provide its responses in due course," a spokeswoman said.
"Transferees who are outside of Australia’s territory or its effective control do not engage Australia’s international obligations."
In the first case, more than 20 unaccompanied minors from countries including Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan were detained on Nauru in 2014 despite all but one being granted refugee status.
The report found they were held in an overcrowded processing centre, with insufficient water supply and sanitation, high temperatures in addition to inadequate healthcare.
Almost all of these teenagers experienced a deterioration in their physical and mental health, including self-harm, kidney problems, memory issues and weight-loss.
The second complaint came from an Iranian asylum seeker who arrived by boat on Christmas Island in 2013 and was eventually recognised as a refugee four years later.
But she was not released immediately and despite being transferred to mainland Australia in 2018 for medical reasons, was still detained in a number of facilities.
The committee pointed to Australia's arrangement for the construction and establishment of the regional processing centre in Nauru and its direct contributions through financing and contracts with entities accountable to Australia.
It called on the nation to provide "adequate compensation" to the victims and to take steps to ensure similar violations do not happen again.
The UN body also urged a review of migration legislation and bilateral transfer agreements to align with international human rights standards.
"These decisions send a clear message to all states: where there is power or effective control, there is responsibility," committee member Mahjoub El Haiba said.
"The outsourcing of operations does not absolve states of accountability. Offshore detention facilities are not human-rights free zones for the state party."
National Justice Project chief executive George Newhouse said children and families had been dumped on Nauru by successive governments "like garbage".
"The UN has reaffirmed that the government not only has a duty of care for these children and families but that successive governments have been in serious breach of international conventions and treaties," he said.
