CANBERRA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government on Wednesday confirmed it has agreed to settle and pay damages to almost 2,000 refugees who have been imprisoned in the nation's detention center in the Manus Island, in what has been described as one of the largest human rights settlements in Australia's history.
The refugees claimed wrongful imprisonment or psychological damages.
About 1,905 asylum seekers who were held, or are currently being held, at the Australian government's offshore detention center on Manus Island filed a class action suit claiming the government did not deliver on its duty of care by housing them in, and exposing them to, conditions which were not up to Australian standards between 2012 and 2016.
Lawyers representing the asylum seekers on Wednesday confirmed the case had been settled out of court, and said recipients could be given up to 150,000 Australian dollars (113,248 U.S. dollars) each for their poor treatment.
The total bill to be paid by the government is likely to be in the region of 70 million Australian dollars (53 million U.S. dollars), before legal costs of approximately 20 million Australian dollars (15 million U.S. dollars), which the government will also pay to law firm Slater and Gordon.
In a statement, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the settlement was not an admission of guilt on behalf of the Commonwealth, rather, the more cost-effective way of settling the claim, blaming the previous Labor government for reopening the Manus Island center when it was not up to standard.
"To date, Australian taxpayers have paid more than 13.7 billion Australian dollars (10.33 billion U.S. dollars) to clean up Labor's loss of control of our borders. Today another 90 million (Australian dollars) was added to that bill with the settlement of the Manus class action," Dutton said.
"An anticipated six-month legal battle for this case would have cost tens of millions of dollars in legal fees alone, with an unknown outcome. In such circumstances a settlement was considered a prudent outcome for Australian taxpayers.
"Labor imposed this cost on Australians when it handed control of the nation's borders to criminal people-smuggling syndicates."
Meanwhile Andrew Baker from Slater and Gordon said the settlement money would be allocated to the more than 1,905 detainees in a "calculated" manner, to ensure those who suffered the most get paid the most.
"Individual settlement amounts will be calculated fairly, objectively and individually with regard to the length of each person's detention, the events and conditions they have experienced and been present for and the severity of injuries each person has suffered," Baker told the press.
"This settlement is an important step towards recognizing the extremely hostile conditions the detainees endured at Manus Island."
