Moss review: Immigration report finds no evidence charity staff encouraged Nauru detention centre refugees to self harm or manipulate abuse allegations
Updated
A long-awaited immigration report into the refugee detention centre on Nauru has recommended a string of changes to the way the centre operates.
The independent review by former integrity commissioner Philip Moss was set up to investigate allegations of sexual and physical assault on asylum seekers, including children.
The report also investigated allegations that staff on Nauru employed by the charity, Save the Children, encouraged refugees to self-harm or manipulate abuse allegations.
The Moss Review said there was no information to prove those allegations.
The Immigration Department ordered 10 members of Save The Children to leave Nauru in October last year after the workers made claims of sexual abuse against women and children inside the Nauru detention centre.
The claims included that women inside the centre were being forced to strip and exchange sexual favours with guards so they could have access to the showers.
The report said many asylum seekers living in the detention centre are apprehensive about their personal safety and have privacy concerns.
It also found some cases of sexual and physical assault were not being reported.
Mr Moss said when staff at the detention centre were made aware of issues, they have, in the most part, dealt with them appropriately and referred issues to police on Nauru when necessary.
But he said there was room for improvement and he wants the Nauruan government and the Immigration Department to overhaul how abuse claims are handled.
Immigration Department secretary Mike Pezullo said his organisation has accepted all 19 recommendations in the report.
"The report does not find any conclusive evidence that the Save The Children employees in any way actively encouraged protest activity or the like," he said.
"Working with Save the Children, Mr Moss recommends and we will undertake a joint review of a breakdown of the trust relationship that transpired, and if there's anything further to be said I'll do so at a later date."
Mr Pezullo said his department would crack down on the inappropriate behaviour detailed in the report.
"You don't want to place anyone in a position where, for instance, a child is the subject of unwarranted and indeed completely depraved sexual attention in response, in relation either to someone's gratification or in some cases, getting preferred access to things like showers or the ability to have a longer bath so you can shampoo someone's hair," he said.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Australian and Nauruan officials are committed to ensuring security in the centre.
"I find the thought of anybody, in particular children, being sexually assaulted completely abhorrent," he said.
"It's not something that we would accept in Australia and it's not something that the Nauruans accept in their community either."
Save the Children welcomes review, Greens demand apology
A substantive part of the Moss report deals with allegations that staff working for Save the Children encouraged asylum seekers to self-harm and fabricated claims of abuse.
Mr Moss reviewed intelligence reports and interviews from Wilson Security, the security provider at the centre. He said none of the information indicated conclusively that Save the Children staff had engaged in those activities.
He acknowledged there was still an Australian Federal Police investigation into the case, but he has recommended the Immigration Department review its decision to remove the staff from the island anyway.
Save the Children released a statement welcoming the release of the Moss review but said the only way to guarantee the safety of children refugees is to end mandatory detention.
The charity's chief executive Paul Ronalds said he was deeply troubled by evidence in the review supporting allegations of sexual and physical assaults on Nauru.
"We are proud of our dedicated staff on Nauru who work with some of the most vulnerable children in the toughest of circumstances," he said.
"The idea that they could do anything to put children in harm's way is absurd. We have said this right from the very beginning.
"The Moss inquiry shows beyond a doubt that there was and is no basis to these claims."
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Save The Children staff should receive an apology from the Government.
"What this report shows is that the allegations that myself and others raised with the minister last year have been reconfirmed," she said.
"Allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, allegations of women and children effectively stripping, showing their bodies for access to amenities.
"And most harrowing of all, programs, young people, girls, being too scared to talk about being raped."
Ms Hanson-Young said the report has been very heavily redacted but details the sexual assault of children and "the inappropriate engagement of children as young as three".
"While the picture of abuse inside the Nauru detention centre remains very murky and very unclear, what has been confirmed is that many staff of both Wilsons and Transfield security officers have been fired and have lost their jobs as a result of these allegations being further investigated," she said.
"The Save The Children staff who were subjected to being fired and removed from the island by the minister, what this report shows is that they had done nothing wrong, there's nothing in this report that suggests that they did anything wrong."
Mr Dutton angrily rejected claims the Government tried to bury the findings of the review amid media reports on the death of Malcolm Fraser.
"I think any suggestions frankly from you or from anybody else that this relates to Malcolm Fraser's death, I just find quite an appalling question to be honest," he said.
Editor's note (20/3/15): This story has been updated to clarify that former immigration minister Scott Morrison did not make allegations Save The Children employees acted inappropriately.
Topics: refugees, sexual-offences, charities-and-community-organisations, australia, nauru
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