CCPR/C/132/D/2365/2014 Advance unedited version 1.1 The authors of the communication are A.K., born on 31 December 1998, A.R., born on 11 February 1997, G.Z., born on 31 December 1998, B.A.A., born on 31 December 1998, E.E., born on 31 December 1997, H.M., born on 31 December 1996, S.H., born on 31 December 1997, K.M., born on 25 April 1999, all nationals of Afghanistan, A.Z., born on 12 February 1997, S.M., born on 1 June 1996, H.I., born on 31 December 1994, A.M., born on 1 January 1998, all nationals of Pakistan, and D.D., born on 15 February 1997, a national of Iraq. In 2013, the authors arrived as unaccompanied minors to Australia and were placed in a detention centre. Initially, they claimed that the State party would violate their rights under article 24 (1) of the Covenant in case they were transferred to the Nauru regional processing centre. In the subsequent submission of 24 March 2014, the Committee was informed that the authors were also claiming violations of articles 2 (3), 7, 9 (1) and (4), 10, 17 and 23 of the Covenant. On 10 September 2015 the authors submitted additional claims about the conditions of their detention on the mainland Australia under articles 17, 23 and 24 of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol entered into force for Australia on 25 December 1991. The authors are represented by counsel, Katherine Wrigley from the Refugee Advice and Casework Service. 1.2 When submitting the communication, on 13 March 2014, the authors requested that, pursuant to rule 94 of its rules of procedure, the Committee request the State party to refrain from deporting or transferring them from Australia while their case was being considered by the Committee. On 21 March 2014, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures, decided not to accede to the request. 1.3 On 10 September 2015, the counsel informed the Committee that two authors, S.H., born on 31 December 1997, and K.M., born on 25 April 1999, decided to withdraw their complaints. Factual background 2.1 Between July and November 2013, the authors arrived to Australia as unaccompanied minors. They were placed in a detention centre for illegal migrants and asylum seekers on Christmas Island (Australia) pursuant to section 189 (3) of the Migration Act. The authors’ parents either remained in their home countries or were deceased. 2.2 Following their arrival and detention on Christmas Island, the authors were at risk of being transferred to Nauru for further processing in accordance with the Australian Migration Act. The State party’s policy at the time was to detain and subsequently transfer all individuals who had arrived as irregular maritime arrivals to a regional processing country, subject to a condition that there were vacant accommodation and facilities suitable for the needs of transferred individuals. In March 2014, the authors’ counsel sent two letters to the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection and to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection requesting that the authors be exempted from the transfer to Nauru on the ground of their status of unaccompanied minors. The counsel also wrote to Christmas Island Case management requesting assurances that some of the minors would not be transferred. The authors did not receive a reply to these letters. They did not seek judicial review of the situation, as they believed that there was no effective judicial remedy available to them to prevent the transfer. Subsequently, the authors’ counsel noted that she was unaware whether there had been any remedies capable of preventing the transfer. 2.3 In autumn 2014, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection announced that all unauthorized maritime migrants, who had arrived to Australia between 19 July and 31 December 2013 and had not yet been transferred to a regional processing country, would not be transferred to offshore processing centers. In December 2014, all minors, including six authors1, were moved from Christmas Island to the Australian mainland. They were all placed in group housing arrangements. The remaining authors were also relocated to the mainland between December 2014 and February 2015. 2.4 A.K. arrived to Christmas Island in August 2013. He had spent approximately 15 months in the detention center on Christmas Island. He was relocated to a community detention center in Geelong, Victoria. In May 2016 he was in community detention in 1 2 The following authors were transferred: A.Z., D.D., B.A.A., A.K., A.R., A.M.

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