Spotlight: Leaked files reveal horrifying refugee abuse in Australian offshore detention camps

More than 2,000 leaked reports about assaults, sexual abuse and other inhumane treatment of refugees in Australia's Nauru refugee detention camps have been exposed to the public, thanks to files recorded by staff in the detention center.

The Australian arm of The Guardian on Wednesday published the 2,116 leaked reports dating between May 2013 and October 2015, among which 51.3 percent involved children refugees, although they only made up about 18 percent of all asylum seekers in the Nauru detention center.

BRUTAL VIOLENCE IN PRISON-LIKE CAMPS

About 1,200 men, women and children who sought refuge in Australia and were forcibly transferred to the remote Pacific island nation of Nauru suffer severe abuse, inhumane treatment and neglect, according to a joint report by two human rights groups, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which were allowed by Nauru for a short research trip to interview refugees in the detention camps.

Refugees and asylum seekers in Nauru, most of whom have been held there for three years, routinely face neglect by health workers and other service providers who have been hired by the Australian government, as well as frequent unpunished assault by local Nauruans, the joint report said.

Living in overcrowded vinyl tents with indoor temperatures regularly reaching 45 to 50 degrees Celsius, and torrential rains and flooding, refugees described life in the detention camps as "prison-like." They also have to endure regular searches of tents by the guards, mere two-minute showers and filthy toilets.

What's making it worse is that they suffered from sustained assaults that happened "several times a week, especially over the weekend," and even sexual assault or harassment.

The leaked Nauru reports range from a boy threatened to be killed by a camp guard to children slapped in the face by guards.

In another case, a teacher reported that a girl from the classroom requested a four-minute shower instead of a two-minute shower, and her request was accepted by a male security person on condition of sexual favors. The security officer wanted to view a boy or a girl having a shower, said the report.

Sexual assault or harassment is a persistent theme in allegations of many female asylum seekers. In one report, an asylum seeker claimed that she had been told that she was on a list of single adult females written by the local guards naming women they were waiting for.

A refugee who had been sexually assaulted in the camp was told that "rape in Australia is very common and people don't get punished," according to another report.

Victimized by constant physical and mental violence, refugees and asylum seekers in Nauru camps were suffering from severe psychological trauma and mental health problems.

"Australia's policy of exiling asylum seekers who arrive by boat is cruel in the extreme," said Anna Neistat, senior director for research at Amnesty International. "Few other countries go to such length to deliberately inflict suffering on people seeking safety and freedom."

BLUNT REFUSAL BY GOVERNMENT

In response to the Nauru files, the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection said in a statement on Wednesday that many of the incident reports reflect "unconfirmed allegations or uncorroborated statements and claims -- they are not statements of proven fact."

The department currently has no evidence to suggest that service providers have underreported or misreported incidents in Nauru, it said.

"The department is examining the matters published today to ensure all of these matters have been reported appropriately by service providers, consistent with the policies and procedures covering such matters," it added, noting that refugees living in the community are encouraged to report all criminal incidents to the Nauru Police Force.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday promised that authorities will look through evidence published to identify any complaints or issues "not properly addressed" in connection with the immigration center.

But Turnbull stopped short of establishing a Royal Commission investigation that has the power to recommend prosecution of officials for wilful negligence.

In the view of Human Rights Watch, however, the Australian government has known about those abuses and has not taken action to end them, which indicates a deliberate strategy to deter asylum seeking.

Though the number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australian shores pales in comparison to those seeking refuge in Europe, Australian authorities instead turn back asylum-seeker boats to their country of origin at sea -- where possible -- or transfer those seeking refuge to one of the two offshore processing centers in Nauru, or on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

The policy, while designed to stop the flow of asylum seekers using people-smuggling operations to reach Australia by boat following a spate of tragic deaths at sea, has been heavily criticized.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has condemned the Australian government's hostility and contempt toward refugees, noting that Australia's cruel deterrence policies had "set a poor benchmark for its regional neighbors." Endi