• Nauru: Action plan for climate change in the Pacific

• Asylum seekers cause $55 million damage at Nauru

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Nauru: Action plan for climate change in the Pacific
16 August 2013 - Consultants looking at the issue of climate change in the pacific have drawn-up an action plan for Nauru to try to help it access funding. The study has been circulated to other Pacific governments so they too can tap into the billions of dollars promised by the international community to address the impacts of climate change. (more)

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Asylum seekers cause $55 million damage at Nauru
21 July 2013 - Some 125 asylum seekers were in police custody on the Pacific island nation of Nauru after a riot ended with fire destroying most of an Australian-run detention centre there, an official said on Sunday. The fire on Friday evening destroyed all the accommodation blocks, medical facilities, and offices and caused an estimated 60 million Australian dollars ($55 million) damage, an Immigration Department spokeswoman said under the department's usual condition of anonymity. She said 125 asylum seekers remained in police custody on Sunday over the riots and blaze. She did not know how many had been charged. Only the dining and recreation buildings survived the blaze. Australia pays Nauru and Papua and New Guinea to hold asylum seekers who attempt to reach the Australian shore by boat. Their asylum claims are assessed at the island detention camps. Most of the protesters were Iranian, Palestinian, Lebanese, and Iraqis, said Ian Rintoul, coordinator of Australia's Refugee Action Coalition advocacy group. (more)