AUSTRALIA will deport three criminals to Nauru even though they are not citizens of the Pacific island nation under a scheme to offshore immigrants.  

The move follows a court ruling that dangerous immigrants can no longer be detained indefinitely.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday that three “violent offenders” had been issued 30-year Nauru visas.

Nauru’s President David Adeang was due to give a statement today about “new arrangements with Australia on the resettling of non-citizens,” according to a post on the government’s Facebook page on Sunday.

But no official details were available by mid-afternoon.

The Australian High Court ruled in 2023 that immigrants who fail Australia’s character test — typically due to criminal activity — cannot be detained indefinitely if they cannot be deported.

This decision led to the release of over 200 immigrants from detention, some of whom have since reoffended and been reimprisoned.

The government said they could not be deported as countries including Afghanistan are considered unsafe for their nationals to be repatriated.

The issue has damaged the government’s popularity and elections are due by May 17.

Refugee Action Coalition director Ian Rintoul said the three men facing deportation had been assigned lawyers on Monday and intended to challenge their removal in court.

The men include an Iraqi and an Iranian, while the third’s nationality is unclear.

Australia pays Nauru, a nation of 13,000 people, to house asylum-seekers who attempt to reach its shores by boat.

Mr Rintoul said almost 100 asylum-seekers who remain Australia’s responsibility are in Nauru waiting to be resettled.

The Australian government has not disclosed how much it is paying Nauru to accept the three criminals, nor why they were chosen.

Mr Burke suggested that more non-deportable immigrants could be sent to Nauru in the future.