Australian Government Knew Of Sexual Abuse Allegations In Nauru; Staff Call For Removal Of Asylum Seekers

Mental health workers in an Australia-run asylum seeker detention centre in Nauru has accused the Australian government of being aware of the physical and sexual abuse on refugees for more than a year. The Nauru staff claimed that officials knew about the abuse long before the government took action.

About 23 current and former medical staff, social workers, teachers and child protection personnel have signed an open letter in an unprecedented move to call for the removal of asylum seekers from the facility to Australia. The Nauru staff also urged the creation of a royal commission to investigate the sexual abuse and the response of the Australian government, reports The Guardian.

In a three-page letter, the staff said the comments made by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton do not reflect the actual response of the government. Dutton had previously remarked that Australia had a “zero tolerance” attitude to sexual abuse.

The workers slammed Dutton’s call for asylum seekers to come forward and report incidents of sexual assault or abuse. The Nauru staff believe the request will only put abused asylum seekers in danger due to the intimate nature of the detention environment.

A recent review by former integrity commissioner Philip Moss has determined that some sexual assault cases at the detention centre had been proven. The findings of the review had prompted the Senate to further investigate the allegations of abuse.

“We would like to inform the Australian public that the government and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection has been aware of the sexual and physical assault of women and children on Nauru for at least 17 months, long before the Moss review was ever commissioned,” said the letter. The former and current staff from International Health and Medical Services and Save the Children had signed the letter.

Meanwhile, an Iranian asylum seeker is fighting for his life in the Royal Perth Hospital after going on a hunger strike for 43 days. Perth Now reports that 25-year-old Saeed Hassanloo, is currently in a critical condition after protesting his detention for four and a half years.

He refused fluids after his older brother was moved to another detention centre at Christmas Island. Refugee Rights Action Network activist Victoria Martin-Iverson said Hassanloo’s friends and other asylum seekers in detention might see the Australian government as uncaring.

Hassanloo had converted to Christianity while in detention. If he will be forced to return to Iran, he may be at risk of persecution. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the government should allow Hassanloo’s brother to see him in the hospital as his life hangs in the balance. She added that it was time to put politics aside and show “compassion.”

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