For multinational company Ferrovial, the Nauru and Manus Island detention centres are a treasure island from which it makes huge profits. But these profits come at a horrific human cost: the suffering and abuse of over 2,000 people seeking asylum.
Ferrovial is the sole shareholder of Broadspectrum, the Australian company that runs the refugee "processing" centres on Nauru and Manus Island. As such Ferrovial is complicit in the everyday abuse and appalling conditions faced by people who are simply seeking safety
Ferrovial's CEO knows that the system set up by the Australian Government is deliberately cruel and inhumane. Men, women and children are humiliated, neglected and abused on a daily basis. They are trapped, unable to leave even after being officially recognised as a refugee.
No company should profit from torture or abuse. Demand Ferrovial terminates its operations on Nauru and Manus Island as soon as possible.
Dear Mr. Meirás,
I am writing to express my concern about Ferrovial’s complicity in the abuse of refugees and people seeking asylum on Nauru.
Australia’s offshore “processing” regime on Nauru and Manus Island systematically and intentionally violates the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Amnesty International considers that the system amounts to torture.
When Ferrovial bought Broadspectrum it knew of the conditions faced by refugees and people seeking asylum on Nauru. Ferrovial now makes a substantial profit from Broadspectrum’s operations on Nauru. It is responsible for Broadspectrum’s continuing operations on Nauru and therefore for facilitating the continuation of an abusive situation. As a result, Ferrovial is complicit in the Australian Government’s violations of the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers.
Furthermore, companies have a responsibility to avoid causing or contributing to human rights abuses in their operations. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights make clear that companies should undertake human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impact on human rights.
Ferrovial has not fulfilled its responsibility to respect human rights. The company did not undertake human rights due diligence before acquiring Broadspectrum in 2016. If it had it would, at the very least, have established that there was a serious risk that it would be supporting and benefiting from human rights violations.
Ferrovial, as the current sole shareholder of Broadspectrum, is responsible for Broadspectrum’s continuing operation of the refugee processing centre on Nauru. Therefore, I ask you to put an end to your operations in Nauru and Manus as soon as possible.
