Nauru government forced to call for an emergency cabinet meeting - Australian officials arrive without visas

The Age reports "Nauru’s government has been forced to call an emergency cabinet meeting to grant visas to two Australian security officers who had tried to fly in without proper documentation...

When the two security officers decided to re-interview the last two asylum seekers on the near-bankrupt island of Nauru, they neglected two important details.

They set off without the visas needed to enter the world's tiniest republic, and without approval to land, despite the well-established procedure that permission to land be given 48 hours before arrival.

Nauruan officials learned of the visit only hours before the two officers were expected on Wednesday, and refused them permission to land if they continued.

While an emergency cabinet meeting was hastily convened on Nauru, the officers remained in their plane on in the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara.

The next morning they were told they could proceed. The blunder has annoyed Nauruan politicians, who were busy passing a budget introduced this week.

“They expect us, every time they want to do something, to drop everything,” one MP remarked.

As debate raged in Canberra on the Australian Government’s hardline policy for processing future unauthorised boat arrivals on Nauru, the episode was a reminder that, to adapt a well-known phrase from Prime Minister John Howard, Nauru decides who comes to that country, and the circumstances in which they come.

It also crystalised one of the key issues in the Government's legislation — that any promises of independent scrutiny of the processing of asylum seekers on Nauru would depend on scrutineers being given visas by the Nauru Government.

“Everybody needs a visa to come here,” one Nauruan MP told The Age. “Just because you're ASIO or you're from Australia doesn't mean you can avoid the visa issue.”

For supporters of the two Iraqis placed on Nauru nearly five years ago under the Government's Pacific solution, the arrival of the ASIO officers was good news.

“Both assessments give me hope that this nightmare might finally end for the men,” says Susan Metcalfe, a researcher and strong supporter of asylum seekers detained on Nauru.

“The mental health issues have been serious and obvious for a long time, and both men need a resolution right now.”

Although the two men, Muhammad Faisal and Mohammad Sagar, were found to be refugees, they received an adverse security assessment from ASIO after an interview early last year.

Neither was told the reason for the finding, which not only meant they could not come to Australia, but that other countries were unlikely to offer them resettlement. Both have consistently said there is no basis for the finding."

The hubris is mounting...