Leaked Nauru Files Show Security Staff Routinely Downgraded Abuse Records

A security company tasked with protecting asylum seekers on Australia's Nauru Island systematically downgraded the seriousness of the incidents reported by other Australian companies working in the detention center, media reported Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, The Guardian newspaper published over 2,000 leaked files on the state of affairs in the Australia-run asylum-seeker center on Nauru Island, revealing large-scale abuse, with 51.3 percent of cases involving minors.

According to the newspaper, an analysis of the leaked files revealed that the Wilson Security company, which was charged with protecting the asylum seekers in Nauru, routinely understated the gravity of the reported incidents, including sexual assault and self-harm, with no legitimate reason for downgrading the risk, thus breaching the reporting rules for such matters.

The publication added that Wilson Security had denied the allegations, asserting that it followed the reporting guidelines established by Australia’s immigration department.

The Nauru facility was opened in 2001 and ran until 2008. In 2012, it was reopened following a surge in the number of maritime arrivals of asylum seekers.

Earlier in August, two prominent human rights organizations — Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch — published a report based on their representatives' undercover visits to the Nauru processing center, which concluded that refugees held in Nauru were being attacked on a daily basis, subjected to inhuman living conditions and denied medical care while the authorities of both countries ignored the violations.