In August 2016, six members of Danish parliament from across the political spectrum cancelled their fact-finding trip to Australia’s offshore detention centre after three of them had their visas denied by the Republic of Nauru. Two of these parliamentarians had previously been critical of Australia’s border policy, whilst another conservative politician was rejected for no apparent reason, but that he was born in Syria. MP Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen asserted that ‘the world can see that in a country where critical eyes and ears are not allowed, it’s obvious that something is being hidden’.

Working against the odds – including an Australian government insistent on denying the public information – journalists, researchers and current and former employees of offshore detention contractors have managed to expose abuses within the punitive system that polices Australia’s borders. The strict suppression of information imposed under the 2015 Border Force Act is increasingly eroding.  Read more