Amnesty International intervenes in Ferrovial shareholders’ meeting to call for an end to operations in Nauru and Manus

At today’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Ferrovial shareholders, Amnesty International called on the management of the Spanish company to put an end, as soon as possible, to its involvement in the management of refugee “processing” centres on the islands of Nauru and Manus in light of persistent reports of human rights abuses and violations.

A new report by Amnesty International documents violations in these centres and accuses the Spanish company and its Australian subsidiary, Broadspectrum, of complicity, along with the Australian government, in a system that is tantamount to torture.

“As a result of the contract of its subsidiary Broadspectrum with the Government of Australia, Ferrovial has become an accomplice in grave human rights violations. The company is not only aware of these abuses, but is profiting from them,” said Gerardo Ríos, Coordinator of the Business Team at Amnesty International Spain.

The response from Ferrovial’s management echoed a letter included in Amnesty International’s report. The company reiterated that their contract on Nauru ends in October 2017 and that the responsibility of migration policy rests with governments. In addition, they say, they have ensured that there is freedom of movement since people are not locked up in the centres. However, Amnesty International points out that people cannot leave Nauru even when they have been granted refugee status.

In its reply, Ferrovial also pointed out that these places have been the subject of international visits. In that regard, the organization notes that the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment concluded that the extraterritorial settlement system for the processing of refugees in Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, violated asylum-seekers’ right to be free from torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Amnesty International emphasizes that there is a culture of secrecy surrounding the island of Nauru, something that has led the Australian government to consider it a crime for social care professionals to talk about what happens there, and to impose strict confidentiality clauses on those who work there.

“There is no doubt that when Ferrovial acquired Broadspectrum it was fully aware of the human rights violations that were taking place in these centres. What steps did Ferrovial take before buying the company to fulfil its human rights obligations? And what steps will it take to investigate the human rights violations reported by Amnesty International?” said Roberto Gil, one of the activists at the AGM.

Further information

In its most recent report on Nauru, published in October 2016, Amnesty International accused the Australian government of subjecting refugees and asylum-seekers to a deliberately cruel system of abuse, whose sole purpose is to deter people from coming to Australia by boat to seek asylum.

The Australian government has spent millions of dollars creating and maintaining an offshore system of processing asylum applications. People fleeing war and persecution are sent to the remote islands of Nauru and Manus in Papua New Guinea and kept in what are effectively “open air prisons”. Conditions are so deliberately cruel and abusive that they amount to torture. A number of people on the islands have tried to commit suicide.

Amnesty International is calling on Ferrovial to put an end to its operations on Nauru and Manus as soon as possible, and to take concrete steps to avoid continuing to be complicit in, and therefore legally responsible for, these abuses.