'Cruel and degrading policy' to blame for Nauru riots, say Salvation Army staff

Thirty-two current and former Salvation Army staff – who are speaking out despite facing lawsuits and court action – released a joint letter to the media on Wednesday saying the riot on Friday night "although shocking, was . . . inevitable".

"Salvation Army staff in Nauru have been predicting such a tragedy for a long time," the letter reads.

"We have worked alongside these asylum seekers since the opening of the NRPC [Nauru regional processing centre] when the men were first housed in tents. Brought them pedestal fans when the temperature within their tents soared to over 50 degrees. Used buckets to empty rivers of rainwater when the same temporary accommodation flooded during the wet season. We comforted men who were brought to Nauru in handcuffs by the Australian government under false pretences. We watched their numerous peaceful protests against the uncertainty of their future. We saw the scars of self-harm, and suicide attempts. We tried to motivate the hundreds of men on hunger strike to eat again."

Mark Isaacs, who set up the recreation and lifestyle programs on Nauru, an island republic north-east of Australia, and worked there between October and June, said staff had seen the men detained on Nauru buckle under the pressure of indefinite detention.

"These really strong men, who've been through so much, just get degraded and downtrodden by this stalling and this bureaucracy."

The group wrote that "the mental health impact of detention in this harsh physical and policy environment cannot be overstated [and] the service providers in Nauru have been unable to prevent the marked deterioration in health in wellbeing".

"We have witnessed a man scrabbling in the dirt, suffering a psychotic breakdown for several days without treatment, read another man's suicide note apologising to his family, and seen countless others who suffered similar mental breakdowns."

The group's letter followed explosive allegations aired on SBS TV's Dateline program on Tuesday night from another whistleblower, former security guard Rod St George, that department of immigration staff failed to act on a series of rapes and assaults at the Manus detention centre in Papua New Guinea.

Mr St George, who worked as a compliance manager with multinational security company G4S before resigning in mid-April, told Dateline that asylum seekers have been sexually abused and even tortured by other asylum seekers as the detainees lost their grip on their mental health. He said the allegations were raised in team management meetings, but nothing was done.

"Words can't describe," Mr St George said. "I've never seen human beings so destitute, so helpless and so hopeless before.

"I took the position with every intention of making the place a safer environment but it proved quite rapidly to be an impossibility."

Immigration minister Tony Burke said he was told about the allegations about two weeks ago but Tuesday night was the first time he had been put in touch with the whistleblower.

"The allegations are horrific," he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

"There's no doubt that what has been described involves some situations and crimes which must not be allowed to occur."

Mr Burke said issues to be fixed included ensuring groups were able to be kept separate and improving staff training.

"I'll be in Manus in the next couple of days and I'll look for myself.

"The allegations are horrific. There's no other way of describing them. I wish I'd had an opportunity to be able to get the specifics of them earlier than last night because I would have started acting on them earlier than last night," he told ABC Radio later on Wednesday.

Despite Dateline informing Mr Burke of the allegations last week, before the government announced it would send all arrivals to PNG, Mr Burke refused to walk away from the new policy. He said extra staffing levels would provide opportunities to improve the culture and training.

It has been reported that Mr Burke would also visit Nauru this week to inspect the damage done to the detention centre there by rioting asylum seekers. The first people charged over the incident will appear in a Nauru court on Wednesday.

A department spokeswoman said she had not seen the program, but "any allegations of misconduct is taken seriously and we encourage anyone with information about these allegations or any other allegations to contact the department so it can investigate".

She said the department was aware of an allegation of sexual assault on the island but could not comment due to the sensitive nature of the incident.

As Australia prepares to send all asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement, and massively expand facilities at Manus Island, Mr St George said the Manus facilities – if they were in Australia – "couldn't even serve as a dog kennel. The owners would be jailed".

Rates of self-harm were "off the scale" compared with other detention facilities.

Mr St George alleged six men were sexually abused in the men-only tent section of the camp. Because there are no separate secure areas, he said, the victims were left in the same facilities as their attackers.

"There was nothing that could be done for these young men who were considered 'vulnerable' – which, in many cases, is just a euphemism for men who are being raped," he said.

"They had to stay where they were. It was obvious that everyone was way in over their head, that we do not have the facilities or the experience to prevent what was happening.

"We might separate people in those circumstances on the mainland but there aren't any facilities on Manus to do that. So these people on Manus who have been assaulted are forced to remain back in the tent ... there was nowhere else for them to go ... because no one leaves Manus."

He said some asylum seekers had intimidated others into sewing their lips together and one man had his left ear perforated after "they'd been pouring solvents in his ear for some time".

The Salvation Army staff on Nauru said they had been compelled to speak out because they feared the men on Nauru were being "demonised" after the riots.

"Despite this constant degradation and suffering, we have witnessed the strength, humility and resilience of these people," the wrote. "We have seen men from all cultures pour their energy in to keeping themselves and each other alive and hopeful. The support and kindness that the men detained in Nauru offered to each other and the staff never wavered, even in the face of increasing injustice and frustration. There are countless examples of their good nature, not withholding the Tamils indicted in this current unrest. The Tamils who were always the men who put their arm around you in a friendly gesture and assisted in labour with no thought of reward.

"The most recent incident in Nauru was not borne out of malice. It was a build up of pressure and anxiety over 10 months of degrading treatment, and a planned peaceful protest that degenerated."

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