Ten aid workers have been kicked off Nauru amid claims Save The Children staff fabricated detention centre abuse stories and coached asylum seekers into self harm.

The federal government has appointed former integrity commissioner Philip Moss to conduct an independent inquiry into the claims, as well as sexual misconduct allegations aired earlier this week.

Allegations relating to the misuse of official information have also been referred to the Australian Federal Police.

Save The Children chief executive Paul Ronalds dismissed suggestions of wrongdoing. He said the group had not been provided with the intelligence report from the federal government.

“We reject in the strongest possible terms these allegations that our staff have in any way fabricated stories of abuse or in any way encouraged self-harm,” Ronalds told media on Friday.

“The truth is that cases of child self-harm are a reality, and have been well-documented.”

Ronalds said self-harm incidents on Nauru were a consquence of the government's recent decision to reintroduce temporary protection visas that excluded asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island.

“Our staff have responded to these very distressing incidents with professionalism and compassion,” Ronalds said.

'They are employed to do a job, not to be political activists'

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says while sexual abuse claims should never be taken lightly, he is concerned they are being used by people who have an anti-offshore processing agenda.

"The matters that have been brought to my attention are concerning, certainly the allegations of sexual misconduct are abhorrent and I would be horrified to think that things of that nature have taken place," Mr Morrison said.

"Issues of sexual misconduct have to be taken very seriously and it's incumbent on those making allegations as well as those looking at these allegations to do so in good faith and with a view of protecting the innocent."

The minister says he has received intelligence reports that service provider staff were engaged in a "broader campaign with external advocates to seek to cast doubt" on border protection policies.

This included allegedly doctoring official reports as well as orchestrating protest activity and stunts with children.

The government must have confidence that service providers are acting with professionalism in accordance with contractual obligations, Mr Morrison said.

"[They] are employed to do a job, not to be political activists. If people want to be political activists, that's their choice. But they don't get to do it on the taxpayer's dollar," the minister told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

Morrison 'prejudging investigation': Hanson-Young

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said it appeared Mr Morrison had pre-judged the sexual abuse allegations and she had no reason to believe Save The Children staff had done anything wrong.

"What I am concerned about is that the minister seems to be prejudging the investigation before it has even started," Senator Hanson-Young told reporters on Friday.

"We know that these rumours of women being forced to strip in exchange for showers have been circulating for a number of months and the information that was given to me that I've handed over to the minister has come from mental health workers, security guards and asylum seekers themselves."

Earlier this week, Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young demanded the immigration department investigate allegations concerning sexual exploitation of women and children at the Nauru detention centre.

"Certainly the allegations of sexual misconduct are abhorrent and I would be horrified to think that things of that nature have taken place," Mr Morrison said.

"We need to get to the bottom of these things."

Mr Moss's interim report is due in the next seven weeks, with a final report due by the end of the year.

Nauru suicide attempts 'on the rise'

Earlier this week, SBS reported that more than a dozen refugees have attempted suicide, according to activists, who have also alleged that at least seven children have sewn their lips together in the wake of the Abbott government's recent visa decision.

The decision, announced last week, could mean the reintroduction of temporary protection visas to boat arrivals on Christmas Island and the mainland.

However neither temporary protection visas nor the newly-created Safe Haven Enterprise visas will be available to detainees on Nauru or Manus Island, sparking what the Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul called an “epidemic of self-harm”.

The Refugee Rights Action Network's Victoria Martin-Iverson said the spike in self-harm was a direct result of the Abbott government's decision not to offer visas to boat arrivals on Nauru or Manus Island.

Ms Martin-Iverson said asylum seekers from the same boat had been sent to different facilities in what she described as “an arbitrary, grotesque human rights lottery”.

“Now what the Minister is saying is that the people who lucked out and got left behind and not sent to Nauru have a possibility of getting a temporary protection visa,” she said.

Since the announcement, Ms Martin-Iverson said she'd received dozens of images of asylum seekers protesting and self-harming.

"I've heard that up to seven teenagers have sewn their lips and a large number of adults," she said.

SBS has obtained some of the pictures purported to show Nauru asylum seekers with their lips sewn shut. (Warning: This article contains graphic images)

She said asylum seekers are meeting several times every day to protest, while refugees released into the community are also demonstrating.

Messages that appear on the protestor's placards include "I'm tired, please kill me," "Suicide is sweeter than Australia's dirty policy," and "Only our corpses might go to Cambodia."

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Ms Martin-Iverson said she's concerned about the protestor's safety.

“During some of the protests inside the camp we know that Save the Children workers were removed from the camp so they can't bear witness to what has happened and then it's been just the security staff that have been inside the camp,” she said.

“What I am hearing from people is that the guards are behaving in an aggressive manner and I can't really say any more than that.”

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.