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Women and children at an offshore detention centre faced grooming from security guards paid by the Australian government to protect them, a Senate inquiry has heard.
An inquiry into the treatment of refugees heard shocking allegations on Tuesday from a woman who was detained on Nauru after arriving in Australia by boat in 2013.
The woman, Maryam, said people on the offshore centre were faced with chronic deprivation and abuse at the hand of guards – who she said created a “trading system” for basic items.
She said guards under Australian government contracts would withhold certain items, such as food, toiletries and cigarettes, then request sexual favours in exchange for them.
She said: “Security guards were asking for sexual favours in exchange for cigarettes, and asking for a kiss or hug from children for a lollipop or chewing gum.
“At the time it was hard to concentrate on everything around us. But when I look back on it, I think the women and children were being groomed by security guards.
“They were using their power for their own gratification.”
Maryam alleged the accused security guards were both Australian and Nauruan, but were all paid under Australian contracts.
The inquiry was also told that people at the centre were forced to wear the same clothes they arrived in – including underwear – for six months, which resulted in infections and health issues.
And she said that shortages of essentials escalated into exploitation and coercive exchanges.
She told the committee: “We needed someone to protect us from the guards themselves.”
Maryam was giving evidence in Canberra as part of an inquiry into offshore processing and resettlement arrangements, before the government’s legal and constitutional affairs references committee.
Evidence for this has been gathered in recent months, with a report on the findings expected at the beginning of June.
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