The natural resources of the Pacific island of Nauru have been exploited until it has basically been worn away. (I first heard about it on This American Life — look for the episode titled “The Middle of Nowhere.” Compelling listening.) Its story, in a nutshell, describes the effects of colonialism and the transition into global capitalism. Now it’s being used as a detention camp for refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan who were turned away by Australia. Some of those refugees, on hunger strike, have promised to sew their eyelids as well as their lips shut if the Australian government does not address the inhumane conditions in which they are being kept. Solutions being bandied about are requests for visas to Nauru for doctors, lawyers, and social workers, and petitioning Amnesty and Medecins Sans Frontieres to pay greater attention to the issue…
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