These are some of the horrific stories that have emerged from the asylum seeker detention centre on Nauru, reported by a former Bega Valley resident who worked as a teacher on the island. 

Judith Reen, who grew up on a beef farm in Quaama and attended school in Bega, is one of the authors of 2000 reports recently published by The Guardian called the Nauru files and is calling for an end to offshore processing.

She spent 18 months on the island to July 2015, where she worked at a secondary school and witnessed a number of incidents where children were abused.

“A guard once pushed a student of mine to the ground. He was not stood down but moved to another area in the camp,” Ms Reen said.  

“Some of the guards are quite leery and lecherous to the teenage girls and see it as a compliment. But many of the girls come from regions where gender-based violence is used as a tool of war. I can’t overstate how difficult it is for them to feel safe.”

She said no-one has ever been charged for the incidents reported. But the teacher did not want to demonise all guards at the centre, saying some were traumatised by what they witnessed on the island. 

“We had some really caring officers, then others who were downright racist.

“Some were ex-servicemen that fought in Afghanistan or Iraq who now found themselves caring for people fleeing those regions and found it difficult to relate to them,” she said. 

But psychological abuse from constant taunting by guards or island locals to return to their country of origin when they cannot go home, as well as messages from the Australian government that they will never be settled in Australia led to “extremely distressing” actions from some young asylum seekers. 

“Actions included lip sewing, swallowing harmful liquids such as insect repellent, detergent, self harming with razor blades and attempted hangings,” Ms Reen said.  

Ms Reen felt it was time to leave Nauru when her asylum seeker school closed as the children were transitioned into local schools.

“I felt I’d seen so much, I was a bit weary,” she said.

“I was starting to feel disconnected from the people I loved, I just couldn’t relate to them anymore.

“My mind was always with the children.”