Nauru is pleading with Australia for more aid and money, after the island's detention centre was closed down.
While refugee activists applaud the decision to shut the facility, it has left a hundred workers out of a job and families battling to buy food.
Labor closed the immigration processing centre earlier this year. honouring an election promise.
It employed one hundred islanders, including Philip Diau.
The father of six now has no work and is struggling to feed his family.
"The kids just wake up in the morning went to school," Philip Diau said. "They haven't got any breakfast at all."
Nauru's government says the Australian-run detention centre injected $5 million a year into the local economy.
"To lose twenty percent at this fragile time is of significant consequence for us," Dr Kieren Keke said.
And now the world's smallest island nation is buckling under a thirty percent unemployment rate.
"Trying to find avenues to provide employment for our people is not the easiest, given our economy," Dr Keke said.
Philip Diau wants the detention centre to reopen as a training facility, funded by Australia.
"It's up to the Australian government," Mr Diau said. "So we can't say anything. I really want the camp to continue, because it's really helped all the people on the island."
The Australian government is talking to Nauru about how it can help fill the economic void. A spokesman for foreign minister, Stephen Smith says that is likely to provide aid and other assistance.
source: newshub archive
