MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, The Guardian published over 2,000 leaked files on the state of affairs in the Australia-run asylum-seeker center on Nauru Island, revealing large-scale abuse, with 51.3 percent of cases involving minors.
"It appears from looking through the published database that nowhere near the full extent of the incident reports written on a day-to-day basis have been released. What you are seeing here is just the tip of the iceberg," former teacher Jane Willey said in response to the files’ publication.
A number of other professionals who worked at Nauru also condemned the suffering there and expressed concern over lack of legislation to ensure children’s safety at the facility.
"In all my years as a child protection specialist, I have never seen such intense harm caused to children on such a large scale as I saw occurring in the Nauru RPC," Alyssa Munoz, former Save the Children child protection worker, said, as quoted in the statement.
The Nauru facility was opened in 2001 and ran until 2008. In 2012, it was reopened following a surge in the number of maritime arrivals of asylum seekers.
Rights groups have sharply criticized the detention camps for their inhumane living conditions and incidents of sexual and physical abuse.