The Government of Nauru says refugees in the country are in no physical danger and stories of locals attacking them are largely fabricated to further political agendas and influence the Australian Government.
Justice Minister David Adeang pointed to recent claims by the ‘Refugee Action Coalition’ of an ‘assault’ on two male refugees which he said was used to criticise Nauru’s new open centre arrangements before the program had even started, and called on the media to show a greater level of scrutiny to the group’s unfounded claims.
Mr Adeang said this group has a history of making unsubstantiated allegations of assault that have regularly been found to be false, and that others including lawyers, willingly spread these false claims.
“In the past, police investigations have found that while photos ‘released’ by the Refugee Action Coalition showed actual injuries, they were not obtained by an assault from a Nauruan local, but through either an accident or by another refugee.”
However the truth doesn’t serve the group’s political agenda, according to the minister, who believes that in some ways Nauru is safer than Australia.
“There is no gun violence in Nauru, people are not dying from domestic violence and our police don’t even have to be armed, so let’s get some perspective into this discussion.”
He said the Government has recently established a Gender Violence and Child Protection Unit within the Department of Home Affairs and a Gender Violence Hotline will commence shortly.
“It’s a shame that while our Government is working hard to make life better for both the asylum seekers and refugees, these so-called advocacy groups are manipulating the very people they claim to protect and are using them to serve their own political agendas.”
“Nauru is a much safer place than the countries many of the refugees have left. It is a nation where locals and refugees live side by side and can be seen every day shopping, relaxing, dining out, swimming and going about their normal activities.
“This is a far cry from some of the false reports in the media, but sadly these advocacy groups and lawyers don’t want people to know to truth.”