“Reports of abuses on Nauru are not new: serious concerns about conditions on the island have been raised by human rights organisations, and government-appointed experts for the past three years”, says JRS.
Advertisement
“The Australian government is desperate to shift blame from the real culprits responsible for the self-harm incidents: those who have instituted and continue to maintain Australia’s offshore processing centres, which have been accurately called “factories for producing mental illness”.
A signed letter from the workers argues that Australia must work to resettle refugees held in these centres.
Australia is likely to have a senate inquiry into allegations of sexual assault and child abuse in the detention centre on Nauru, after key crossbenchers said they were likely to support Labor’s motion.
The release of more than 2,000 leaked reports of incidents on Nauru detailing allegations of widespread abuse and self-harm, including children wanting to kill themselves, have sparked new calls for a parliamentary inquiry. “This shouldn’t be about politics or protecting Australian immigration policies, but about doing what is best for children, first and foremost”, says Hayden.
The news comes at the government confirmed it had repatriated a group of six Sri Lankans attempting to reach Australia by boat.
Sydney-Nauru Tuesday dismissed as “fabricated” claims that asylum-seekers faced violence, abuse and humiliating treatment while living in Australian immigration facilities on the Pacific island, saying refugees had become political pawns.
The Nauru Government has since said numerous reports have been fabricated and used by refugee activists for political purposes. “So called “reports” based exclusively on these claims #fact”, it wrote on Twitter.
“Aust [sic] left wing media, Greens MPs and advocates still using refugees as pawns for their political agendas”.
Advertisement
The remark echoes Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton claim last week that some asylum-seekers inflicted self-harm and made false claims in their bid to enter Australia.
