Australia: JRS urges closing processing centres on Nauru and Manus

It was not clear to what extent the alleged incidents were investigated either by the companies contracted by Australia to run the regional processing centre or by Nauru police.

The OHCHR also discussed signs of severe mental health issues which they believe stem from the poor treatment and prolonged detention of the migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Nauru.

There are renewed calls for the Sex Abuse Royal Commission to turn the spotlight on the Australian-funded Nauru detention centre, amid further allegations of abuse of asylum seekers and refugees on the tiny Pacific island.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully says New Zealand condemns any form of abuse or maltreatment, particularly against children, but the matter will be investigated by the Australian Government.

Guardian Australia this week published more than 2,000 leaked incident reports – running to more than 8,000 pages – which revealed a regime of routine dysfunction and cruelty, showing widespread sexual and physical abuse of men, women and children, massive rates of self-harm and suicide attempts among those detained, and harsh living conditions in indefinite detention.

The call has the support of Australia’s Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs who agrees the commission’s investigative charter should be extended following revelations this week of ongoing violence at the Nauru facility.

The publication added that Wilson Security had denied the allegations, asserting that it followed the reporting guidelines established by Australia’s immigration department.

“I have written to Boris Johnson urging him to meet urgently with the Australian high commissioner to express deep concern about the situation in Nauru, and stress that their responsibilities under the 1951 convention apply the same in Nauru as they would to refugees in Australia”, he said.

“It is not good enough to say that this is for another sovereign nation”.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Thursday it was an issue for Nauru.

New Zealand’s offer to resettle 150 refugees from the offshore detention centre in 2013 has never been taken up.

“When the report came out last week it shocked us all”.

In all there were seven reports of sexual assaults, 59 reports of assaults on children, 30 incidents of self-harm among children and 159 of threatened self-harm involving minors.

Mr Shearer, a former Labour leader and United Nations humanitarian worker, said Australia’s offshore detention regime was abysmal and unsustainable, and said Australian voters were prepared to “push under the carpet” knowledge of conditions on Nauru and Manus Island, in contrast to public condemnation of mistreatment inside the Northern Territory’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre that prompted a royal commission last month. “In particular, JRS holds grave concerns for children, who feature disproportionately in the incident reports”, says Oliver White, Assistant Director at JRS.