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Refugee detention abuse revealed in major leak

Sexual abuse against women and children are among harrowing incident reports leaked from the Nauru immigration detention centre.

Australia is obliged to offer protection to refugees, but instead many are processed at the offshore island of Nauru, about 3,000km away.

Children kept in the Nauru immigration detention centre say they are being kept in inhumane conditions in prison. Picture: The Guardian
Children kept in the Nauru immigration detention centre say they are being kept in inhumane conditions in prison. Picture: The Guardian

The Guardian Australia has published a database as part of its 'The Nauru Files' report, detailing more than 2000 leaked reports dating back to August 2013 and up to October 2015 where more than half of the incidents involve children.

The report revealed seven incidents of sexual assault of children, 59 assaults on children, 30 of self-harm involving children, and 159 of threatened self-harm involving children.

"I want Australia to stop this torture," an 18-year old female Iranian refugee told the Guardian.

"When they say that they made offshore processing so they could stop people drowning at sea. What's the point of surviving at sea when you die in here?" she said.

Mizba Ahmed, a 13-year-old Rohingyan refugee who has been held at Nauru for the past three years said she fled a life where Muslim women were raped and killed in Burma, but the Nauru detention centre was like a prison.

She is seeking an education and freedom in Australia "like every other teenager from Australia and other countries are having".

One document, from December 2014, discusses a painting created by a child asylum seeker that depicts "violent/intense sexual activity including the representation of a penis" and stated that children had seen Nauruan guards pull their pants down and having sex.

The future of the child detainees is unknown. Picture: Facebook/Free the Children NAURU
The future of the child detainees is unknown. Picture: Facebook/Free the Children NAURU

Another document from July that year said a female asylum seeker had been told she was on a hit list of young women that local guards were waiting to have sex with once they were released for resettlement.

A guard allegedly put his hands in the pants of an asylum-seeker child during a car trip, even though the father was present, according to another report.

The leaks also detail cases of self-harm such as in March last year when a medical staffer witnessed an asylum seeker swallowing rocks. There were also reports of young detainees setting themselves on fire, slitting their wrists, and also knowingly ingesting poison.

One report details the despair and fear of a pregnant mother who was too scared to be transferred to Papua New Guinea to give birth to her child in October 2015. Instead she had vowed to have her child in her tent on Nauru and then kill it and herself.

The children say their rooms become flooded in the wet weather, and cockroaches and rats are commonplace. Picture: Facebook/Free the Children NAURU
The children say their rooms become flooded in the wet weather, and cockroaches and rats are commonplace. Picture: Facebook/Free the Children NAURU

A Free the Children Nauru Facebook page has been set up to keep alive the detained children's plight for freedom.

"The children are tired and most of their days are spent crying and sleeping," the page states.

The Facebook page was set up to give the child detainees a voice and platform to share their story with the outside world, despite a Facebook ban imposed in Nauru.

Save the Children, which provides welfare services on the island, said The Guardian's leaked documents underscored the need to find an immediate resettlement solution.

"Nauru is no place for vulnerable children and continuing to leave them to languish there is doing significant harm," Save the Children spokesman Mat Tinkler said in a statement.

He insisted that the charity had not been involved in the leak and respected its contract with the federal government that prevents it from speaking out publicly about specific incidents and conditions.

Amnesty International said the leak laid bare "a system of routine dysfunction and cruelty".

It was dizzying in its scale and damning on Australian authorities trying to maintain a veil of secrecy.

Liberal frontbencher Karen Andrews said no one wanted to see women and children treated poorly under any circumstances.

The refugees seek education and freedom in Australia. Picture: Facebook/Free the Children NAURU
The refugees seek education and freedom in Australia. Picture: Facebook/Free the Children NAURU

The Australian Federal Police had been working with Nauru police to strengthen their capability when it came to dealing with severe incidents.

"We would encourage anyone to report any incidents they are aware of," Ms Andrews told Sky News.

She hailed the federal government's efforts to stop the flow of asylum-seeker boats and resulting deaths at sea.

Refugee rights advocates are demanding a royal commission into the abuse of asylum seekers in offshore camps in the wake of the massive document leak from Nauru.

The groups called for political and community will to end offshore detention.

GetUp spokeswoman Shen Narayanasamy said the refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island must be immediately brought to Australia.

"There is no moral grey here, these people are being abused."

"Here we see report after report of the most awful and disgusting abuse," she said, adding the situation was worse than previously thought."

The Nauru Files revealed seven incidents of sexual assault of children, 59 reports of assault on children, 30 of self-harm involving children, and 159 of threatened self-harm involving children. Picture: Facebook/Free the Children NAURU
The Nauru Files revealed seven incidents of sexual assault of children, 59 reports of assault on children, 30 of self-harm involving children, and 159 of threatened self-harm involving children. Picture: Facebook/Free the Children NAURU

The Australian Greens have also called for a royal commission.

Leader Richard Di Natale on Wednesday said the Guardian reports were just as serious as abuse allegations inside youth detention centres in the Northern Territory.

"We should have a royal commission into the (immigration) detention centre network and it's impact on children in detention," he told reporters in Canberra.

Human Rights Law Centre executive director Hugh de Kretser said given the investigations into child sex abuse, and the recently established royal commission into abuse in the NT corrections system, it was clear offshore detention should end.

"We are creating the exact same conditions that allow that abuse to thrive on Nauru where we're warehousing innocent people and children," he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection told The Guardian: “The Australian government continues to support the Nauruan government to provide for the health, welfare and safety of transferee children.

“Alleged incidents within the regional processing centre are investigated and where appropriate referred to the Nauru police force (NPF) for investigation. Refugees living in the community are encouraged to report all incidents of assault to the NPF."

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467, MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78, Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au. Local Aboriginal Medical Service is available from www.vibe.com.au.