Newly leaked Nauru reports detail harrowing accounts of sexual abuse and self-harm

Child and adult refugees held on Nauru under Australia’s offshore detention regime are continuing to report allegations of sexual abuse and engage in self-harm, new leaked documents reveal.

The new incident reports, seen by the Guardian, include a harrowing account of the alleged rape of a refugee, who refused to report the encounter to Nauruan police. The reports also tell of children stubbing out cigarettes on their arms, trying to jump off buildings and attempting suicide by other means.

The reports make reference to “ongoing, significant risks” to children held on Nauru between January and March this year. The leak follows the Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files, incident reports revealing the trauma and abuse inflicted on children held by Australia in offshore detention.

Peter Dutton, Australia’s immigration minister, has sought to diminish as “hype” the 2,116 leaked reports that contain accounts of self-harm, abuse and sexual assault in the offshore centre up until October 2015, although he said the government would investigate them. In interviews he said: “There are some that are legitimate and there are others that aren’t and others that have been found not to be substantiated,” and: “Some people do have a motivation to make a false complaint.”

A caseworker wrote in March that a woman reported that she had been waiting for a bus when she was grabbed, pushed into a car, driven away, then raped by two men. She was dropped at another location and, according to the report, told “that if she told anyone they would kill her”. She repeatedly told the Nauru police force she did not wish to make a statement.

The report said the caseworkers had recommended that the woman be encouraged to speak to the police and were continuing to provide support to her.

In another report a refugee said she had been spat on and repeatedly sexually harassed at a restaurant she managed in the Nauruan community. The woman told a caseworker how “on numerous occasions” men of Nauruan appearance requested that she “engage in sexual intercourse with them in exchange for money”.

“[The woman] reported that on two different occasions the men appeared in the restaurant’s kitchen, wrapped their arms around her with force and tried to kiss her.”

She said other staff and customers had come to her aid. As the men, who appeared to be intoxicated, left they continued “using abusive language, spitting on her and throwing rocks towards the restaurant”.

The woman reported “that she has been afraid to report the harassment to Nauru Police Force … she stated that one of the main reasons behind the closure of [the restaurant] was the ongoing sexual harassment by clients.”

The caseworker wrote that staff would monitor her wellbeing and assist her in submitting a police report if required.

The new reports include a number of serious allegations of self-harm by children. In one report from February, a child refugee under 15 tried to jump off the balcony of his home in an attempt to kill himself. His father stopped him. The caseworker said he had “provided practical support and advice to [the father], including advising him to remove all sharp objects from the home in an attempt to minimise further risk of harm.”

In another report from that month a refugee girl aged under 10 had disclosed “thoughts of walking in front of moving traffic”. She told the casework manager that the reason for this “related to the lack of activities available in Nauru and her dislike of school. [The girl] also stated she was experiencing difficulty sleeping and intense feelings of fear, which she identified commenced upon her entry into detention.”

A refugee reported to a caseworker that her brother, a child under18, had “self-harmed by burning his arms with cigarettes and cutting his wrist with a knife”. There had been between five and seven episodes of self-harm, she told the caseworker.

A spokesman for Australia’s immigration department said: “Refugees living in the community are encouraged to report all incidents, including alleged sexual assault, to the Nauru Police Force.”

“While law and order in the Nauruan community is a matter for the government of Nauru, the department and its service providers offer significant support to assist with providing information and encouraging victims to undertake appropriate action stemming from reported incidents.”

“The Australian federal police has also deployed officers to work alongside the NPF and build their capacity to investigate complex and sensitive incidents. This project is achieving positive results and is providing valuable skills to local officers.”

The immigration minister did not respond to requests for comment.

It is three years since the first two refugee children arrived on Nauru, on 18 September 2013.

The leaked documents are incident reports filed by caseworkers for Connect Settlement Services, which provides support to refugees in the community on Nauru. They were filed between January and March 2016 and are a small sample of hundreds of other reports filed during this period.

It is the first time documents from CSS have been published. The company has operated largely without public scrutiny since it began providing services on Nauru. This year it took on an expanded role, providing support services to refugees in Cambodia.

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Hotlines in other countries can be found here

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