‘What they have done to be treated this way?’ asks Fida as she begs the Australian government to reunite her with her two sisters who fled Lebanon

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

An Australian woman whose two sisters and eight nieces and nephews remain held on Nauru after three years, has pleaded with the Australian government to abandon offshore processing and allow her family – and others separated by the policy – to be reunited.

“What they have done to be treated this way?” Fida said in Sydney Tuesday. “In Australia we always have people talking about human rights, but in this case, I see there’s no human rights at all.”

An emotional Fida – the Guardian has chosen only to report her first name for fear of repercussions against her family – pleaded with the government to abandon the policy which she says has irreparably damaged her sisters’ mental and physical health. One of her nephews was allegedly abused inside the processing centre.

ABC and Nauru government clash over Four Corners exposé of offshore detention Read more

Speaking at the official launch of Amnesty International’s report into offshore processing on Nauru, Island of Despair, Fida, supported by her mother, said her family had fled Lebanon after violence had killed friends in her neighbourhood.



Both of her sisters have four children. The youngest was seven when they left their homeland.

“They left their country looking for a better life for their kids. They didn’t know how they are going to end up. It’s not a better future at all.”

One of Fida’s sisters on Nauru has been the subject of reports in the Guardian and other news outlets. After discovering possibly cancerous lumps in her breast more than three years ago, doctors on Nauru ordered a biopsy, which couldn’t be performed on the island.



A medical transfer to Papua New Guinea last month ended without any treatment at all being performed because of other complicating health problems, and she was returned to Nauru. She has not yet received treatment.



“Her kids worry her, they say ‘we lost everything, we have nothing left, except Mum. And if we lost Mum, there would be nothing’.

“I always ask myself, ‘what has she done to be treated this way’.”

The Amnesty report, compiled following a five-day visit to Nauru in July, and based on interviews with more than 60 asylum seekers, refugees, Nauruan locals, and processing centre staff, argues Australia’s offshore detention regime is a form of torture, because the abuses that occur there are systemic, are sustained and not addressed by the Australian authorities in charge, and that the whole regime is designed to induce an outcome: that of coercing refugees to return home, and deterring others from making boat journeys to Australia.

Nauru files: review confirms 19 police referrals over abuse claims, yet no prosecutions Read more

Amnesty’s senior director for research, Anna Neistat, said the allegation of torture was not made lightly.

“We believe that this policy amounts to torture. We make this conclusion based on the systematic nature of the harm that is being caused, it’s intentional nature, and the fact that it is being perpetrated that the Australian government is, quite honestly, not even trying to hide: the goal is deterrence. The policy of deterrence relies on the idea of causing as much suffering as possible to ensure that others do not attempt to do what these asylum seekers have tried to do ... reaching Australia’s shores.”



Neistat said offshore processing should be ended immediately because of the critical situation for those held in the Australian-run camps. “This is not a situation where people can wait.”



She said the government rationale for the policy of “saving lives at sea” and deterring others from coming by boat was deeply flawed.

“Saving lives at what cost? Saving lives, really? People are still dying on Nauru.”

Omid Masoumali, an Iranian refugee, died after self-immolating on Nauru in April this year. The Amnesty report outlined several cases of children repeatedly attempting to kill themselves.



At least 19 alleged crimes, including assaults and sexual abuse of children, have been reported to Nauru police. But there have been, to date, no convictions of anybody for a crime committed against an asylum seeker or refugee, after three years of offshore detention.

The Nauru files: the lives of asylum seekers in detention detailed in a unique database – interactive Read more

The Amnesty report comes after the Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files, more than 2,100 of the offshore processing regime’s own incident reports detailing critical abuses such as systemic abuse of children, violence against asylum seekers and refugees, rape and sexual assault of women and children, inadequate medical care, and regular self-harm and suicide attempts, especially by children. The reports, as was reported by the Guardian at the time, also detail the totality of life on Nauru, and include more prosaic complaints about broken toilets or kitchen equipment, poor food or clothing, and disagreements with staff or between refugees.

Also released on Tuesday, more than 5,000 doctors from across Australia signed an open letter to the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, urging an immediate end to offshore processing.

“As doctors, we cannot condone or accept treatment of innocent and already traumatised people, particularly vulnerable women and children, which knowingly and deliberately causes harm,” the letter says.

“We urge you to immediately close the camps on Nauru and Manus Island and bring all detainees to Australia for rapid processing and appropriate medical and psychological support.”

The Australian government has rejected the Amnesty report.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, told ABC radio on Tuesday morning he did not believe conditions in offshore processing amounted to torture: “I reject that claim totally, that ... is absolutely false,” the prime minister said. “The Australian government’s commitment is compassionate and strong.”

The secretary of the immigration department, Mike Pezzullo, told a Senate estimates hearing that offshore processing was “part of a broader policy of deterrence” but that “the idea that the Australian government, presumably with the complicity of Nauru and PNG ... are knowingly engaged in a program of torture is something that I reject categorically”.

“I refute categorically ... that we flout any laws international or otherwise. And as to the notion, inference, implication that we use torture as some sort of instrument of state policy, I personally find that to be offensive.”

Government-contracted healthcare provider International Health and Medical Services has rejected criticisms of its operation by Amnesty, in particular stating that asylum seekers and refugees are always given access to their health records, and that patients are referred to by name, and never by boat ID.



“We have developed robust systems to assure high standards of care for all of our patients, in full compliance with international healthcare standards and regulations,” it said in a comprehensive statement.

IHMS said it employed 36 full-time mental health staff on Nauru, but highlighted the difficulties of managing mental health issues on the island.

“Management of mental illness and psychological distress is complex ... as in any community, many causative factors relating to mental health matters are outside of the control of the primary health and mental health providers.”