Immigration Minister Tony Burke announced plans to visit Manus Island in the wake of disturbing expose by whistleblower Rod St George, a former senior manager with the security firm G4s, through SBS' Dateline program.

According to Mr St George, men asylum seekers were raped in the single male compound. What was worse was that those who were abused were forced to stay in the same male compound with their abusers due to lack of facilities for the asylum seekers.

Mr St George told SBS, "There was nothing that could be done for these young men who were considered vulnerable, which in many cases is just a euphemism for men who have been raped. They just had to stay where they were."

"I have never seen human beings so destitute, so helpless and so helpless and so hopeless before. I have worked with some of the worst criminals Australia has and even they have got a clearer sense of decency than what I witnessed there. In Australia, the facility could not even serve a dog kennel. The owners would be jailed."

According to Mr St George that instances of suicide and self-harm were normal and that the Immigration Department staff manned the camp in the worse possible; even worse than that of a prison.

Watch SBS' video here:

In an official statement released by the Immigration Department, it denied any knowledge about Mr St George claims.

According to the statement, the department is "unaware of the claims in the SBS report of unreported acts of self-harm, suicide attempts or incidents of rape at the centre. Since the centre opened in November there have been 23 incidents of self-harm by 21 individuals. One transferee alleged he had been sexually assaulted but chose not to press charges when interviewed by the PNG police."

"There have been no reported allegations of rape... all detainees are encouraged to report any concerns for personal safety immediately in order to assess the specific needs of the individual concerned as well as ensuring the safety of the population of the centre."

"The welfare and safety of all transferees are of the utmost importance to the Department and the government of Papua New Guinea."

According to a report from ABC News, there were already plans of expansion for the Manus Island facility, but there were still apprehensions that with the growing numbers of asylum seekers, centres located in Nauru and PNG will still be scarce of the influx.