The Australian’s associate editor is the first journalist in 18 months to gain press access to the island – a goal placed out of reach for most immigration reporters

In the last two weeks the Nauruan police force has conducted two raids at the island’s Australian detention centre in an extraordinary bid to hunt down journalists’ sources.

The Weekly Beast: Chris Kenny's interview with Somali refugee draws ire Read more

Their objective was clear: find out who had leaked emails about the Nauruan government’s calculated plans to allow a small cadre of local journalists into the detention centre. The raids were sparked by the Nauruan operations manager at the detention centre, who made a complaint to the police.

These are not the actions of an open government interested in public scrutiny. They are the actions of a government terrified of adverse media attention. Had such raids occurred in Australia, journalists would be outraged at such astonishing interference with a reporter’s work.

The raids occurred at the same time the Australian’s associate editor Chris Kenny gained press access to the island and detention centre – the first Australian journalist in 18 months.

“Nauru has become a vortex of political and personal agendas conspiring to mask the truth,” Kenny writes.

But what many Australian journalists have been experiencing is a steady decline in press freedom surrounding immigration detention reporting. This decline has made it increasingly difficult to report on the continuing abuses – documented extensively in written reports and oral testimony – occurring at the Australian-run detention centre and on the island.



Journalists reporting on asylum seekers referred to Australian police Read more

The reality is that reporting is made near-impossible. In the last two years a number of journalists’ stories relating to Nauru have been referred to the Australian federal police. The immigration department’s freedom of information division has confirmed that reports from Guardian Australia and other news organisations were included in referrals for “unauthorised disclosures” pertaining to some of these investigations.

Fairfax Media reported several weeks ago the number of referrals – some of which relate to media reporting – relating to Nauru from September 2014 to March 2015 was six.

Consequently, those of us who report frequently on immigration issues have been forced to adopt a range of counter-surveillance techniques in order to reduce the risks of discovery by both the Australian and Nauruan governments.

Kenny expressed concern about the use of “anonymous and unverified stories”. That should apply generally across reporting, but the reality for immigration reporting is that many stories are backed by extensive evidence, the nature of which simply cannot be disclosed given the risk to sources.

It is unfortunate Kenny is the only reporter permitted to visit the island. The last time Guardian Australia sought information about access to Nauru and the costs of a visa, in April 2015, our email was ignored. This sort of response – or active refusal – appears to be a trend across the board, with al-Jazeera and the ABC recently facing a point-blank refusal.

Kenny has speculated the reason why he was successful in gaining access to Nauru is because of his “well known support for strong border protection policies”. But journalists shouldn’t need to hold certain opinions to gain access to detention centres offshore or onshore.

In a manner of speaking, Kenny appears to agree:

[J]ournalism, in cahoots with activists, could hardly do any more damage to the asylum-seekers and refugees in Nauru or the reputation of the country if they were on the island. Nauru would do better to let them in – perhaps on condition they stay a while – so they cannot avoid the facts entirely.

One claim by Kenny warrants particular scrutiny; that there is a “boycott” by asylum seekers and refugees on the island who are refusing to send their children to local schools.

The closure of the detention centre’s school which was staffed by Save the Children led small groups of asylum-seeker children to be split across four local schools: Nauruan secondary school, Nauru college, Nauru primary school and Yaren primary school.

The refusal of parents to send their children to the local schools is hardly a boycott. It is also far from new, and was reported several months ago by Guardian Australia. Asylum seekers and refugees are quite justifiably frightened of the Nauruan schools.

Nauru plan to move asylum seeker children to local schools sparks concern Read more

Their concerns stem partly from the appalling condition of many of the schools, the absence of a child protection framework, allegations of sexual harassment and assault and the use of corporal punishment.

Former Save the Children case manager Viktoria Vibhakar wrote in her submission to the Nauru Senate inquiry – backed by extensive documentary evidence – that corporal punishment has been inflicted on asylum seekers who attended local schools.

An incident report said that after four adolescents walked in late to class in May 2014, the local community teacher stated “we will treat you the same as Nauruan children” and then proceeded to beat them around the shoulders with a wooden ruler.

A transition document seen by Guardian Australia when the school at the detention centre closed also pointed out that “limited curriculum resources and classroom furniture have been identified as issues impacting children’s learning in local schools”. The quality is clearly a marked step down.

The immigration department even refused to allow refugee children to be given stationery like glue, textas and colouring pencils at the local schools because it could create tensions with the local children.

Allegations of threats and assaults are continuing to be made, even by children. In October 2014 a 16-year-old gave a statement to the Nauruan police that four Nauruans attacked him and his friends. The statement said they were called “motherfuckers fucking refugees” and their phones smashed. The boy said he had his face slapped three times and was kicked by one of the men.

Police carry out more raids on Save the Children staff at Nauru detention centre Read more

The boy was so frightened he blacked out and woke up in hospital. He concluded: “I would like to mention that I’ve stopped attending school anymore due to what had happened, because I feared for my safety.”

These are not unverified claims. Nor are they claims made by advocates. They are just a few of the vast body of documentary evidence and testimony that comes from the island at great risk to those who dare to speak out.