US-based private prison operators expand to Nauru, a Micronesian island

The Australian Migration Act sponsors mandatory detention. This legislation led to the dentention of refugees at Nauru’s Regional Processing Center. Photo courtesy of John Englart via Flickr.

By Norah Tafuri ’25

Staff Writer 

Australia is currently using Nauru — a Micronesian island once under the control of New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom — as an offshore Regional Processing Center to detain refugees and immigrants. According to the Australian Parliament, the legislation for the processing center is called the Mandatory Detention Policy and was included in the Migration Amendment Act in 1992 with bipartisan support. “Under sections 189, 196 and 198 of the Migration Act, all non-citizens unlawfully in Australia must be detained and kept in immigration detention until granted a visa or removed from Australia,” the bill states.

The Migration Act, passed in 1958, stipulates that “asylum seekers who arrive on the mainland without a valid visa must be held in immigration or community detention, or transferred to an off-shore processing facility.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has stated that it “is clear that detention of asylum seekers ‘as part of a policy to deter future asylum seekers, or to dissuade those who have commenced their claims from pursuing them, is contrary to the norms of refugee law’.”

“For years, Australia has not lived up to its commitments under international and domestic law to provide protection to asylum seekers and give them refugee status determination hearings. This failure sends a message to other countries that they might be able to get away with providing inadequate protection for vulnerable people. So, it harms asylum seekers everywhere,” Rebecca Hamlin, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst said in an interview with Mount Holyoke News. “In my book ‘Let me Be a Refugee’, which compared the refugee regimes of the United States, Canada and Australia, I found that despite many similarities between those three countries, Australia was consistently less likely to treat asylum seekers well, to accept their claims and to welcome them as future citizens.”

The Refugee Council of Australia explained that there were 66 people living on Nauru as of Jan. 31, 2023. “Currently, refugees on Nauru are all living in the Nauruan community, with no one living in the RPCs since the end of March 2019,” according to The Guardian. In place of using the center, many have been relocated to motels where they are held awaiting uncertain resettlement. While moving people beyond the walls of the Regional Processing Center may appear as an effort to stop the use of off-shore RPCs, the Guardian reported that a recent contract has been made with the U.S.-based private prison operator Management and Training Corporation, which is indicative of the enduring practice.

Children held in the Nauru RPC experienced high levels of chronic distress and severe mental health symptoms, including suicidal ideation, hallucinations and cognitive impairment, according to the Asylum Seeker Resource Center. In 2018, CNN reported “Using the hashtag #KidsOffNauru, the Australian charities have started a petition calling for the government to allow the refugee children to leave the island.” Despite the outcry among organizing groups and media outlets, these centers continue to stay in use. 

This new change in contract with MTC came at a price of $421,830,424 paid by the Australian government. MTC is the third-biggest for-profit prison corporation in the U.S., according to The Center for Media and Democracy. It has been implicated in a number of scandals, not the least of which is neglect and abuse of the people incarcerated within their facilities. As reported in 2007 by Prison Legal News, the corporation was named in a bribery scheme involving more than $10,000 in bribes in exchange for favorable votes on a $14.5 million private prison project. Time Magazine reporter Anjani Trivedi stated that when private prison contractors are unable to find profitable contracts in the U.S. they look towards exporting their services abroad, both as carceral institutions and for garrison use, as seen on Nauru. 

Hamlin expressed concern about this trend. “There is a lot of research to support the idea that private prisons and detention centers operate with less transparency than state-run centers. It is more difficult to document abuse and neglect of immigrants in detention when the government outsources these functions of the state,” she said.

According to an article from The Guardian, Nauru Regional Processing Center was formerly run by Broadspectrum, a corporation that was tasked with handling welfare services for refugees in Nauru’s RPC. Broadspectrum — which was later rebranded as Transfield Services — was previously owned by the Belgiorno-Nettis family, who have reportedly donated $895,298 dollars to the ruling Labor Party, which currently holds the parliamentary majority in Australia.

This donation is but a small drop in the sea of donated dollars that fund the Labor Party. “In nine years, Labor has taken over $90 million from corporations,” Democracy For Sale, a website that tracks political donations, stated. More money is certain to be in exchange, with 55 percent of the Labor Party’s income being derived from undisclosed donors. 

Labor home affairs spokesperson Kristina Keneally confirmed that Labor “completely supports Operation Sovereign Borders — offshore processing, regional resettlement and boat turnbacks where safe to do so,” The Guardian reported.Broadspectrum received 1.5 billion dollars from the federal government over the course of three years for managing RPCs such as the one at Nauru.

7.8 magnitude Kahramanmaraş earthquake rocks Turkey and Syria

An earthquake starting in Kahramanmaraş has caused over 40,000 recorded deaths as of Feb. 14. Photo courtesy of IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation via Flickr.

Jendayi Leben-Martin ’24

Global Editor

On Feb. 9, 2023, an earthquake and subsequent tremor with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.5 respectively started in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey and rocked southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria, Al Jazeera reported. BBC News explained that the earthquake, which seismologists say is one of the largest ever recorded in Turkey, was widespread, resulting in the mass destruction of thousands of buildings across the region. Chris Elders, professor at the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University in Australia, told Al Jazeera that the aftershocks stretched “a distance of about 100 km to 200 km (62 to 124 miles)” from the epicenter in Kahramanmaraş.

According to James Elder, a spokesperson for the United Nations, the 10 provinces affected by the earthquake are home to approximately 4.6 million children, while the affected areas in Syria housed 2.5 million children, CNN reported. Days after the quake, people buried under rubble are still being rescued, but the death toll is still expected to increase. According to Al Jazeera, as of Feb. 14, over 40,000 deaths have been recorded, and UNICEF confirmed that the number will continue to grow according to a CNN article. 

Adele Akbulut ’24, who is part of a small group of students affiliated with nudasyria.org at Mount Holyoke that have begun organizing fundraisers to help provide relief for those displaced by the earthquake, spoke about the resources that Turkey and Syria have lost, stating, “Many of the people there are now homeless —the ones that are alive — they are all outside.” The student group will be fundraising outside of Blanchard Dining Commons until Feb. 17. 

In the wake of the earthquake, the U.N. has begun funneling aid into the region through Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee, two points between Turkey and Syria.On Feb. 13, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opened the cross points, and they will remain open for at least a three-month period to allow aid into the countries.According to U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths via CNN, 11 trucks have carried resources into the region through Bal Al-Salam, and 26 more have passed into the region through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing, as of Feb. 14.

Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of the Carolinas

A Chinese spy balloon was spotted by civilians over Montana. It floated over the United States until it was shot down by a F-22 fighter jet on Feb. 4. Photo courtesy of Chase Doak via Wikimedia Commons.

Elizabeth Murray ’26

Staff Writer

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, a Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted by civilians flying over Montana, The Washington Post reported. In the following days, the balloon made its way across the continental United States. It was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4 by an F-22 fighter jet. According to NPR, reactions varied from the serious — such as Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceling his diplomatic trip to Beijing — to the trivial, including a Saturday Night Live cold open featuring the balloon played by Bowen Yang. 

CNN reported on new details that have emerged regarding the capabilities of the balloon since it was shot down. This balloon was part of a larger fleet, and reports have emerged of additional balloons floating over Latin America and the U.S., the article explained. According to Time magazine, the balloon was equipped with “multiple antennas … likely capable of collecting and geolocating communications,” a U.S. official stated. The “undercarriage” of the balloon — where the surveillance equipment is believed to be housed — was spotted among the debris, ABC News said. 

Professor Calvin Chen, professor of politics at Mount Holyoke College explained that the use of the balloon comes off as unusual for a country that is widely viewed as being at the forefront of technology. “The fact that they were using balloons perplexed me because they have way more satellites, good satellites. They have an orbit that can be used for surveillance and other purposes. To be caught like this and have it shot down, and have all this kind of bad PR, is a little bit of a head-scratcher to me,” he said.

The political reaction in the U.S. has put a strain on what was already a frosty relationship between the U.S. and China. “Relations between the U.S. and China have been quite tense for some time and this will only make things worse,” Professor Andrew Reiter, associate professor of politics and international relations at Mount Holyoke College, said. 

According to CNN, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense responded to the shooting of the balloon by saying, “The U.S. used force to attack our civilian unmanned airship, which is an obvious overreaction. We express solemn protest against this move by the U.S.’ side.” This international incident caused a domestic stir in Congress as well, with senators and representatives of both parties criticizing the Biden Administration’s hesitation to shoot down the balloon, a Politico article said. According to a Reuters article on the issue, Biden addressed this in his State of the Union speech: “I am committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world,” he said. “But make no mistake about it: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”  

Looking ahead, relations between the U.S. and China are likely to remain tense. The U.S. and other countries are now on high alert for unfamiliar objects in their airspace.According to the Associated Press, in the span of eight days, four similar objects have been shot down by U.S. fighter jets.  According to NBC News, China has also accused the U.S. of flying spy balloons over their airspace, meaning that the issue will likely be a point of diplomatic contention between the two countries.

Rioting in Brazil leads to unrest about democracy around the world

The Jan. 8 protests in Brazil have been compared to the Jan. 6 insurrection in the United States. Photo courtesy of Marcos Correa via ZUMAPRESS.com.

By Kiera McLaughlin ’26

Staff Writer

On Jan. 8, 2023, protesters that were camped outside the Brazilian Army Headquarters moved their demonstration, which quickly turned into a riot, to the front of the Brazilian Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential offices. The New York Times reported that “Outnumbered police officers fired what appeared to be pepper spray and tear-gas canisters. The demonstrators persisted for hours, lashing out at what they falsely claim was a stolen election.” While Brazil’s democracy is being questioned, the world has started to compare the similarities and differences between the Brazilian riot and the United States Jan. 6 insurrection.

About 4,000 Bolsonaro supporters arrived on buses and joined others camped outside the army barracks that Saturday and Sunday, the BBC reported. That day, thousands of people took on Brazil’s official government buildings in protest of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro’s loss, what they claim was a stolen election. Protesters started breaking windows, throwing objects, waving Brazilian flags and marching for their cause. 

“On its face, [the insurrections in Brazil and the U.S.] look very, very similar.”

— Andrew Reiter

In an interview with Scripps News, Andrew Reiter, associate professor of politics and international relations at Mount Holyoke, said “On its face, [the insurrections in Brazil and the U.S.] look very, very similar. You have protesters who are convinced that … the one they support lost the previous election and they’re storming capital buildings and damaging things,” he continued.“But there are really striking differences”. Reiter explained during the interview that the Brazilian president was already inaugurated days before, and the buildings were not occupied by officials at the time of the riot, while the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. was trying to stop the vote from happening to cement the presidency. 

There’s also a great difference between the ways that former President Donald Trump and former President Bolsonaro responded to these demonstrations, but similarities in the ways they handled re-election. While Bolsonaro also created controversy around his re-election during his time in office, unlike Trump, Bolsonaro allowed a peaceful transition of power to Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva, the current president of Brazil, until the riot. Bolsonaro also criticized a bomb plot by his supporter, saying it was a “terrorist act,” reported the New York Times. When asked by Scripps about Bolsonaro’s response to this riot, Reiter said “it’s hard for him to say the elections were fraudulent because his party gained seats.” Bolsonaro’s party not only won seats in the legislature, his three sons are also elected officials, which changes the perceptions of the election results in Brazil – especially compared to the 2020 presidential election in the U.S., The New York Times reported in the same article.

Understanding the goals of the demonstrators in Brazil requires recognizing how different Brazil’s relationship with democracy is compared to the United States. In an interview with Vox, Rodrigo Nunes, a Brazilian philosophy scholar, explained the way the military plays such a big role in Brazilian politics, and how the people in power used Bolsonaro. “The fact that the security apparatus is very heavily infiltrated by Bolsonarismo is not a consequence of the fact that Bolsonaro created this support, but the fact that these tendencies were there, and suddenly they have had a leader … that could offer a political outlet for them.” Brazil’s history of being a military dictatorship and as a young democracy has led to protesters believing that with Bolsonaro out of office, a military coup would lead to Bolsonaro’s return, Jerry Dávila, Lemann chair in Brazilian history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said in an interview with Illinois News Bureau. 

Luiz Amaral, a professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, stressed the importance of understanding the riots in Brazil by perceiving the actions of these demonstrators through a historical lens and considering the political structure of Brazil. In an interview with the Mount Holyoke News, he said “You have to look into Brazilian history… Is there a global connection between what’s happening in Brazil and Trump in the U.S. and the dictators all over the world? Yes, there is. But there is an internal dynamic that’s built in its history and the history of its institutions. That’s what really makes the whole process possible.” Throughout the interview, Amaral made sure to clarify that the relationship between the government and the military had a huge role in this riot, and is a big factor in Brazilian politics, which are very different compared to American history. 

Brazil’s Department of Justice’s reaction to the riots differs greatly compared to the slow response by the United States House Select Committee after Jan. 6. Soon after the riot, along with arresting around 1,500 people, of whom 600 were relocated from the police academy where they were initially detained, the Brazilian department of justice has targeted political officials, ordering the arrest of the former commander of the Military Police of the Federal District and former secretary of public safety, reported by the BBC. In addition to public officials, Reiter explained in his interview, “they are looking into who financed this. Somebody has fed and sheltered these protesters for a long time. Somebody paid for the 100 buses to bring them all to the capital. And so already there’s government investigations into well over 100 companies who they suspect might be behind financing these demonstrations.”

Just like the Jan. 6 insurrection, people are also concerned about the lack of trust and total manipulation in strong democracies. In his interview with Scripps News, Reiter discussed the extensive influence of social media on these riots and the spreading of misinformation and controversies. When asked about the global state of democracy, he said “it’s certainly alarming. … It also used to be that if you thought you were going to lose an election, you just boycott the election, you would just say it’s not legitimate. … And now the trend seems to be, let’s do the election. And even if we lose, we’ll just say we won anyway and it was rigged.” 

The Brazilian riot was not directly supported by the former president, like Jan. 6, and the Brazilian Department of Justice acted swiftly to enact consequences for the actions of demonstrators and the people in office associated with the riots. With the context of Brazil’s history of a military dictatorship, this failed coup has left many questions for Brazilians and countries around the world. In the Vox article,Dávila commented, “Brazilian democracy is still being built … The armed forces did not heed the call to take over the government, but they have nonetheless extended their influence. President Lula will face an ongoing challenge in again reducing the political influence of the armed forces.”

Citizens protest against proposed increase of French retirement age

Over a million people took to the streets in France in late January to protest a proposed rise in retirement age. Macron is standing by the proposal. Photo courtesy of Jaroslaw Baranowski via Wikimedia Commons.

By Sophie Glasco ’26

Staff Writer

More than one million protesters flooded the streets of France in late January, protesting against proposed retirement reforms by President Emmanuel Macron. The proposal looks to increase France’s legal retirement age from 62 to 64 in order to maintain the public-funded retirement pensions, a strongly unpopular decision, as polls reflect two-thirds of French people opposing the reform. According to French authorities, 1.2 million people protested on Jan. 31, while labor unions claim the number was closer to 2.5 million. Regardless, over one million people took part in the protest, with eight key unions represented in the strike, affecting schools, public transport and oil refineries. According to the BBC, 11,000 police were deployed to cover demonstrations in over 200 French cities. 

Assistant Professor of International Relations and Politics Christopher Mitchell provided some context for the protests: “[A] long history of state ownership in France means that public protest has generally been a very effective way for labor to make its demands felt, as if the government owns key firms, pressuring elected officials can be as important as pressuring the management of the firm.” 

The New York Times explained the French retirement system as “a pay-as-you-go structure in which workers and employers are assessed mandatory payroll taxes that are used to fund retiree pensions.” With the proposed reforms, the system will still exist, but workers must work until age 64. The reforms would also accelerate a previous change in the minimum number of years one must work in order to pay into the retirement benefits. 

Opponents of the legislation argue that Macron is attacking cherished retirement rights and refusing to look at other options, such as raising taxes on the wealthy. Critics also feel that the reforms target blue-collar workers, who begin careers sooner but have shorter life expectancies compared to white-collar workers, according to The New York Times. 

However, President Macron is firm in backing his proposal, as the bill is heading to Parliament, where Macron’s party has a small majority and therefore a “legislative showdown” is expected. According to the BBC, “[w]ithout a majority in parliament, the government will have to rely on the right-wing Republicans for support as much as the ruling parties’ own [members of parliament].” 

The problem lies with a declining birth rate for the last few decades in France and other Western European countries, and thus fewer working-age people to support a larger generation of retirees in the coming decades. Mitchell explained the implications of the decline, stating, “[t]his means that inevitably either taxes will need to be raised on younger workers to support the existing level of benefits or benefits will need to be cut, or of course some mix of the two that will be popular with nobody.” Beyond the issue of taxes, France also has a notably lower retirement age than other European countries, with Italy, Germany and Spain looking to raise their retirement age to 67, as well as the United Kingdom at 66. “Given that you can qualify for state pensions considerably earlier in France than most other advanced democracies, Macron has proposed raising the pension age as an alternative to either raising taxes or cutting benefits,” Mitchell explained. 

The French government and the French citizens are each stubbornly defending their side, with neither showing signs of backing down. The protesters have history supporting them, though, as Mitchell explained that “France also has a long history of mass mobilization and protest more generally, as can be seen in the First and Second French Revolutions.”