The Undesirables

by Mark Isaacs

In August 2012, the Australia Government reintroduced the notorious Pacific Solution; a policy of incarcerating people who attempt to seek refuge in Australia by boat in Pacific Island prisons.

Two weeks later, I was hired by the Salvation Army to perform humanitarian work in the horrific Nauru detention centre. What I saw there moved me to speak out, despite the threat of legal action for disclosing “confidential information”.

The Undesirables: Inside Nauru is an exposé of what really goes inside an offshore detention centre; detailing daily life in the prison and the stories of the men held there; the self-harm, suicide attempts, and riots; the rare moments of joy and the moments of deep despair.

This book is a window into the dark and mysterious world of offshore processing, a world purposefully obscured from the public eye.

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”They feared that they would die in Nauru, that they would be forgotten; that they would become non-people.
Mark IsaacsThe Undesirables

Stories from

Inside the Nauru Detention Centre

This account details life inside the Nauru detention centre: the appalling living conditions where men were housed in tents and slept on stretcher beds; the illnesses that spread in cramped living quarters and the poor medical services which offered Panadol for all ailments. It explores the relationships between the detained men and the Australian staff, and includes revelations of abuse and negligence. Most frightening of all are the accounts of self-harm, mental illness and violence which escalate dramatically throughout the book.

”The camp was built around destroying men, breaking them down so far that they would take their own lives. Grind them into the dust and force their hands to pull the nooses and knives on themselves.
Mark IsaacsThe Undesirables

Stories of

The Detained Men

Within the Nauru detention centre, there were men of different nationalities, ethnicities, language groups and religious beliefs. All of them were confined within the claustrophobic atmosphere of the prison.

Learn their stories of why they tried to come to Australia and about the families and countries they left behind. Read about their hopes and dreams that were overshadowed by the hopelessness of life on Nauru. And walk with them through their suffering as they tried to cope with the pressure of imprisonment without sentence.

”I am willing to die for all these men to shut this place down.
PezThe Undesirables

The Island of Nauru

Nauru is an island of 10,000 people. It takes 30 minutes to drive around the country. There is one main store; a two-storey warehouse of odds and ends.

The island is rimmed with idyllic beaches and palm trees. But the poverty is at times startling: falling apart houses with broken windows and doors. Abandoned infrastructure and barely functioning refineries are a reminder of a more prosperous nation which used to profit from the phosphate mining industry.

In the centre of the island, excavated mine sites create pinnacles of rock. Here the wind dies down and the heat and humidity become intense. This was where they housed the Nauru detention centre.

Learn about this strange nation and how it was affected, for good or for worse, by Australia’s offshore detention program.

”This was the No Advantage policy. Take them to a distant island, lock them away, punish them, forget about them. Criminals were given a sentence to serve; these men were not even given that.
Mark IsaacsThe Undesirables

Explosive whistleblower account

In order to publish The Undesirables and speak out publicly against Australia’s offshore detention policy, I had to breach strict confidentiality agreements designed to silence workers and restrict the public from knowing what was really happening on Nauru. I risked the legal repercussions because I felt compelled to shed light on the government-financed suffering and abuse. At that time, the government had successfully repressed most information from leaving the island. I wanted people to really know what was happening to the men detained on Nauru.

”This is a stand, to tell the truth about what is happening, no matter how the government will react.
Mark IsaacsThe Undesirables

Reviews

“This book may be the only chance Australian citizens have to learn what our government is doing to boat people held on Nauru.”
Julian BurnsideAO QC, Officer of Order of Australia, Sydney Peace Prize winner

“The Undesirables, an account from within the asylum seeker system, is all the more powerful a record for the unpretentious voice of the author. The tale Mark Isaacs tells is angry but disarming, since Isaacs himself is a bewildered pilgrim…The Undesirables is packed with surprising instances of sometimes small-scale but continual attrition of the spirits of the detained.”
Tom KeneallyAuthor, Man Booker Prize winner, Miles Franklin Award winner

“Your book is not only a compelling read but also a powerful expose of the truth about the pain we are inflicting on the most needy. The horrors of indefinite incarceration under the hideous conditions of Nauru have been revealed with great skill, empathy and insight. It is a must read for all Australians.”
Robin de CrespignyAuthor of The People Smuggler

“The helplessness and humiliation of these men, seeking to change their – and their families’ – grim destinies, is excruciatingly depicted...It is his rawness that makes Isaacs’ account so bleak and so valuable.”
FLThe Saturday Paper

“A powerful testament to the act of bearing witness, The Undesirables shows the grim and unjust reality of deterrence at any cost.”
Lucy VanReadings

“Regardless of what side of politics one is on, Isaacs’ book forces readers to see that there is no argument that justifies the cruelty accorded to these asylum seekers.”
Sonia NairCritic, Right Now

“There were many moments of heartbreak for the young, untrained Australian facing the anguish of these men, some younger, many older than him, in the Nauru camp.”
Deborah SnowJournalist, Sydney Morning Herald

“[Isaacs] wrote about men who had survived wars and treacherous voyages losing all will to live on Nauru.”
Naomi KleinThis Changes Everything: Capital versus Climate

“One of the biggest problems with the story of asylum seekers and the Pacific solution is the lack of information, the lack of stories, and the lack of voices...This is what makes Mark Isaacs' contribution so extraordinarily valuable.”
Sarah FergusonABC Journalist

“Mark Isaacs sidesteps the media spin to expose the harsh realities of life on Nauru, in this first-hand account of oppression, haphazard organisation and human disaster.”
Wheeler CentreMelbourne

“For all Australians, this book is too important to avoid. By any measure it is a gruelling read. However the harshness is somewhat softened by the compassion displayed by Mark and so many of his colleagues in defying the dominant milieu of the camp.”
Stephen Secomb

“An absolute MUST read. This true account is profoundly sad but an important and necessary record of the consequences of Labor and Liberal policies under Howard, Gillard, Rudd, Abbott (and later Turnbull) toward refugees and asylum seekers. I highly recommend this book.”
Benjamin Farr

“Breaking apart and analysing the complexity of offshore detention in Nauru. Isaacs lays out the inner workings of Topside camp, including his work with Salvation Army and the relationships he built with the asylum seekers there. This book will provide insight into people who has fled war torn countries only to be treated like a criminal by a bureaucratic government.”
The Bookself Podcast

“Every single person living in Australia should read this book. A complete eye opener, it will break your heart into pieces once you realise what our (shameful) government has been telling us is a complete lie.”
Elsie Grimes

“I kept having to put this book down, weep, take a few breaths and start again. Chapter after chapter I had to take a walk to decompress before I started reading again.

Mark writes a really simple, truthful account of human beings in a devastating and soul destroying situation.”
Kaye Stirland

“It is Isaacs' own truth - anecdotal and subjective - that makes it all the more compelling.”
Peter MaresWriter and researcher