Roundup: Australian broadcaster ABC lambasted by Nauru for refugee children program

The government of Nauru has slammed Australia's premier investigative program Four Corners for airing a biased one-sided report on how refugee children were being treated in the Australian-run detention centres housed on the island.

In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, Nauru accused the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as being denigrating, racist, false and an "embarrassment to journalism" by airing "pure political activism" from start to finish.

"Last night's Four Corners program on the ABC was yet another example of the ABC's biased political propaganda and lies, and was an insult to the people of Nauru," the statement said.

Though the number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australian shores pales in comparison to those seeking refuge in Europe, the 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 two offshore processing centers on Papua New Guinea's (PNG's) Manus Island or the the Pacific island of Nauru.

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 previously 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."

Late on Monday the ABC's premier investigative program Four Corners aired "The Forgotten Children" which examined the lives of 128 children living on Nauru, a now permanent home for more than 700 refugees.

In footage smuggled out of Nauru where children talked about their experiences in the facility, the ABC alleged the refugees poorly treated with run-down facilities had suffered psychological damage and received threatening gestures from members of the Nauruan community.

"They showed the knife to us and they say don't come here anymore. This is not your school, this is our school. This is our country. Go away from here," one child refugee told the program.

The ABC's story was largely informed by an Amnesty International report that alleged the government's policy of offshore processing is "explicitly designed to inflict incalculable damage on hundreds of men, women and children" and "it's a systematic regime of neglect and cruelty that amounts to torture under international law".

ABC, however, did not seek comments from the government of Nauru prior going to air, and refused a live interview with Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton after the program to address the allegations made.

An ABC spokeswoman on Tuesday rejected the Nauruan claims to stand by their report that was "an important story of obvious public interest".

"The interviews with the children were conducted remotely by Four Corners, and their stories were subjected to the program's usual rigorous fact-checking processes," the spokeswoman said in a statement to Xinhua.

"The program was made in this way because the Nauruan government routinely refuses journalists access to report on offshore processing, and charges prohibitive fees for media visas which are not refunded if the applications are refused."

The Nauruan government had imposed an 8,000 thousand Australian dollar (6,147 thousand U.S. dollar) non-refundable visa application fee for foreign journalists wishing to visit the island. Australian and international media are routinely rejected.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday outright rejected Amnesty's and ABC's claim, saying their policy commitment "is compassionate and it's strong" after 1,200 asylum seekers died under the previous Labor party government.

"We've reduced the children in detention from almost 2,000 when we came into office, we've increased our humanitarian program from 13,750 to 18,750 by 2018-19 and, we are taking an additional 12,000 refugees from the Syrian conflict zone," Turnbull told ABC radio on Tuesday morning.

"We provide significant support to the government of Nauru for welfare and health services and that includes a medical clinic, upgrades at the hospital, of the Nauru Hospital, a new surgical facility, new school buildings, education, curriculum development."

Turnbull said the Australian authorities are looking at third country resettlement options while encouraging those housed offshore to their return home if they are able to do so, particularly those who have had their refugee status denied.

"If you seek to come to Australia with a people smuggler or you've sought to come to Australia with a people smuggler, you will not settle in Australia," Turnbull said.

"I know that's a tough policy, I know that is hard, but the alternative is what we had under Labor - 50,000 unauthorised arrivals and 1,200 voices that were silenced... because they drowned at sea."

Amnesty's and the ABC reports follow continued scrutiny of Australia's harsh immigration policies from rights groups and local media organisations. Prior to Monday night's report by the ABC, the Australian arm of the Guardian had published over 2,000 leaked reports of assaults, sexual abuse and other inhumane treatment of refugees at the Nauru facility. Enditem