A move to return families with infants to Nauru has prompted a mass protest at the Wickham Point detention centre in Darwin, with reports of several acts of self-harm.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Police confirmed that three units, including one dog unit, had been sent to the centre to help immigration department officials and contractors restore order.
Refugee advocates claimed one mother had attempted suicide after being told she would be returned to Nauru with her three-month-old baby.
They said another mother and child had been told their return was imminent. "Everybody is trying to hurt themselves and I'm very scared," one advocate quoted a detainee as saying.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called on the government to defer any move to return women and infants to Nauru until all the recommendations of the recent Moss report are implemented.
The report made 19 recommendations to improve safety after finding evidence of rape, sexual assault of minors and guards trading marijuana for sexual favours from female detainees. A separate Senate inquiry has been set up to investigate the findings.
The Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, has been asked to confirm whether returns to Nauru have resumed. His department tweeted that reports of a riot at the centre were incorrect. "A disturbance occurred involving detainees that resulted in minor property damage."
