Felicity Ogilvie reported this story on Monday, February 17, 2014 08:06:00

CHRIS UHLMANN: Ten unaccompanied children have been sent to the detention centre on Nauru. The charity employed to look after the teenagers, Save the Children, says the minors arrived yesterday morning and will be held in the family camp.



But one of the charity's leaders has made it clear that Save the Children doesn't think the Government should send vulnerable children offshore.



Felicity Ogilvie reports.



FELICITY OGILVIE: The 10 teenagers who've been sent to Nauru will live in the family camp and be cared for by Save the Children.



The charity's director of international programs, Scott Gilbert, says the unaccompanied children will be supervised at all times.



SCOTT GILBERT: They'll stay in the community with the other asylum seekers on Nauru, and we'll do everything we can to make sure that they get access to people of different ages, and we think that's really important. When you consider where most of these children come from, they rely very closely on senior role models.



FELICITY OGILVIE: There are already warnings that the children's mental health could suffer. Sophie Peer is the campaign director at ChilOut - an advocacy group opposed to the detention of children.



SOPHIE PEER: The biggest risk is absolutely that these children will have serious mental health issues; and as we've seen from teenagers in detention, issues of self-harm, attempted suicide and potentially worse is going to face the Australian public.



SCOTT GILBERT: And I'd agree with our friends at ChilOut, I think most definitely - the research has shown the longer the children are kept in detention, the more it impacts their physical and mental health and wellbeing. The challenge for us is really making sure that they get… they're safe, firstly; that they're in an environment whereby they can't to harm to themselves or others can't do harm to them.



FELICITY OGILVIE: Save the Children may be caring for the unaccompanied children on Nauru, but Scott Gilbert says the charity doesn't think the children should be sent offshore.



SCOTT GILBERT: We do not think, under any circumstances, that children as vulnerable as these should be sent offshore for processing, as it's called. We believe that the best place for these children is in the Australian community where they get the support and the standard of care and services that they require - and that still remains our very, very strong position.



CHRIS UHLMANN: Scott Gilbert from the charity Save the Children, ending Felicity Ogilvie's report.