• Director(s):

    CIBIEN (LAURENT)

  • Producer(s):

    ARTE GEIE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2016

  • Language(s):

    German, French

  • Rights:

    TV, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET

Can a State entrust other countries with the task of keeping asylum seekers away from its borders? Transformed into a fortress, Australia is blocking clandestine refugees in the over-crowded and unsanitary camps of Nauru and Manus.

What Europe is currently trying to implement with Turkey, Australia has been practicing since 2012. Their radical policy sets out to intercept all clandestine immigrants before they reach the Australian coast. Once intercepted, immigrants are transferred to the island of Nauru and Manus, off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
Today, nearly 1,500 people are being detained there - well out of sight of Australian public opinion – for having attempted to reach Australia by boat to seek refugee status. The information that filters through from the camps is indicative of a catastrophic situation, and features violence inflicted by wardens, suicide attempts and riots.
In Australia, an increasing number of voices are speaking out against an inordinately expensive policy. The private company that manages the offshore transit camps costs over a billion dollars.