Australian government criticised over ‘disgraceful’ $400m deal to deport foreign-born former detainees to Nauru

An agreement relating to the NZYQ cohort, who previously faced indefinite immigration detention, was signed by home affairs minister Tony Burke on Friday

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Human rights lawyers, refugee advocates and the Greens have accused the Albanese government of striking a “discriminatory, disgraceful and dangerous” deal to deport hundreds of foreign-born former detainees at a cost of almost half a billion dollars.

On Friday Australia and Nauru signed a memorandum of understanding allowing the government to deport about 280 members of the NZYQ cohort, a group of noncitizens living in the Australian community whose visas were cancelled on character grounds.