Locked up in Nauru: Education experiences of asylum seeker and refugee children in Australian offshore immigration detention

Forced migration has reached unprecedented levels globally, leading many countries to adopt increasingly restrictive policies toward asylum seekers, including greater reliance on immigration detention. Australia enforces one of the strictest responses, mandating indefinite offshore detention for those seeking asylum by boat, including children. Between 2013 and 2019, over 370 children were detained indefinitely in purpose-built offshore detention facilities on the remote Pacific island of Nauru under an agreement between Australia and Nauru. While research has extensively documented the severe psychological harm of immigration detention on children, its impact on education remains underexplored. Notably, no qualitative studies have examined the education experiences of asylum seeker and refugee children detained offshore by the Australian Government. Given that hundreds of children spent over five years in detention during critical school years, investigating these experiences is essential. This thesis explores the educational impact of Australian offshore detention on children detained in Nauru, drawing on 22 qualitative interviews conducted between 2021 and 2022 with children, parents, and service providers. It presents the first personal accounts from individuals detained as children in Nauru Prison, identifying three key themes: hopelessness, disengagement, and ongoing educational impact. Findings reveal that immigration detention caused cumulative harm, undermining the mental health of both children and parents while creating significant practical and emotional barriers to school engagement. Rather than serving as a stabilising and protective factor, schooling in detention exacerbated distress and educational disadvantage, with many children missing school for months and years. This thesis contributes to the understanding of how immigration detention disrupts education, positioning it as a critical yet overlooked dimension of detention-related harm. By offering a more comprehensive framework for assessing the multifaceted consequences of immigration detention, it underscores the urgent need for policies that protect and promote the rights of asylum seeker and refugee children to access safe schooling and prioritise their overall wellbeing.