All refugee children to be removed from Nauru by year's end, Brandis confirms. By Helen Davidson and Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian

The Australian government is set to move all children now held in immigration detention on Nauru to Australia by the end of the year (2018).

George Brandis, the former attorney general and who is now the high commissioner to the UK, confirmed the plan in a radio interview in London early on Thursday morning.

“There are hardly any children on Nauru and in New Guinea and we expect that by the end of this year there will be none,” Brandis told LBC radio.

His comments follow reports in the Australian newspaper, which said it had been told that the remaining 40 children of asylum seekers still living on Nauru would be relocated to Australia by the end of the year.

All refugee children to be removed from Nauru by year's end, Brandis confirms. By Helen Davidson and Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian

Australia: Appalling Abuse, Neglect of Refugees on Nauru. Human Rights Watch (2016)

About 1,200 men, women, and children who sought refuge in Australia and were forcibly transferred to the remote Pacific island nation of Nauru suffer severe abuse, inhumane treatment, and neglect, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The Australian government’s failure to address serious abuses appears to be a deliberate policy to deter further asylum seekers from arriving in the country by boat.

Refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru, most of whom have been held there for three years, routinely face neglect by health workers and other service providers who have been hired by the Australian government, as well as frequent unpunished assaults by local Nauruans. They endure unnecessary delays and at times denial of medical care, even for life-threatening conditions. Many have dire mental health problems and suffer overwhelming despair – self-harm and suicide attempts are frequent. All face prolonged uncertainty about their future.

Australia: Appalling Abuse, Neglect of Refugees on Nauru. Human Rights Watch (2016)