Nauru will come under fresh scrutiny in a United Nations hearing over the treatment of child asylum seekers sent there by the Australian government. On Tuesday the 73rd committee on the rights of the child will be held in Geneva, where Nauru will be thrust into the international spotlight once again for its central role in Australia’s hardline offshore detention regime. The Nauru files: cache of 2,000 leaked reports reveal scale of abuse of children in Australian offshore detention Read moreAustralia’s detention facilities have drawn heavy domestic and international criticism following the Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files, more than 2,000 leaked incident reports that laid bare the devastating abuse and trauma inflicted on children held there. A working document for the upcoming UN hearing indicates the committee will focus some attention on the Australian-run detention centre. It states: “A large number of girls below the age of 15 are subjected to sexual abuse, as well as reports that asylum-seeking and refugee children in the regional processing centres are targeted for sexual abuse, including rape.

Source: The Guardian September 13, 2016 08:37 UTC