More than 100 former employees from Australia’s offshore detention centers have called for asylum seekers to be brought to the mainland. The staff worked with detainees held on the Pacific island of Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island.
A signed letter from the workers argues that Australia must work to resettle refugees held in these centers. It follows the Guardian’s publication of more than 2,000 leaked reports from the immigration center on Nauru.
The “incident reports” revealed widespread abuse and trauma among children and women at the center, BBC reported.
The former detention center employees argue that the only way to secure the safety of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island is to immediately bring them to Australia.
“It’s an untenable situation for it to remain the way it is,” said Toby O’Brien, a former child protection officer for Save the Children.
Many of the staff say that they have already given evidence to several investigations.
“Inquiries and so on are not really relevant to addressing the issue right now because quite a number of adults and children are at immediate risk of harm on the island,” O’Brien told the BBC.
“By the time these inquiries are finished and recommendations are implemented, it’s highly likely that more people have been harmed.”
The immigration minister last week accused asylum seekers of setting themselves on fire, deliberately self-harming and making false allegations of sexual assault to get to Australia.
The government of Nauru said on Monday most incidents detailed in the cache of files were “fabricated” and accused Australian media and politicians of using refugees as political pawns.
