How can NGOs push Australia to change its refugee policy?

As yet another report highlights the human toll of Australia’s offshore migrant processing system, NGOs and advocacy organizations are asking themselves what it will take to make a change.

Countless investigators and human rights groups have raised concerns about Australia’s processing system in recent months, most recently Amnesty International with a report published Tuesday. “Island of Despair, Australia’s “processing” of refugees on Nauru” draws on interviews with more than 100 people in Nauru and Australia to document mental health abuses leading to suicide and self-harm; assaults on children; inadequate medical care; violations of human rights; and the trapping of refugees in legal limbo.

While such reports have created greater public awareness of the conditions on Nauru, they haven’t convinced the Australian government to change tactics. All unapproved refugees, including boat arrivals, are sent to nearby countries including Nauru for processing. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton recently declared the Australian policy a “success” and even indicated that European countries are interested in emulating it.