Refugees sent threatening letters on Nauru
Nauru authorities insist refugees on the island aren’t at risk despite copies of a threatening letter being sent to compounds, posted on walls and placed on car windscreens.
Advocates also claim refugees have been subjected to harassment and attacks on their property.
The anonymous letter, signed by the “Youth Republic of Nauru”, says refugees are “making our lives miserable … and will make local community people their slaves”.
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It warns them to quit their jobs, stop walking around the island and stay away from Nauruan women.
“Our wives, sisters and daughters are in contact with refugees and having affairs with them and we can never see our women having fun with refugees and neglecting locals,” it said.
The Nauru government maintains the Pacific Island nation has embraced its guests with open arms.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Nauru officials described the letters as part of a “campaign of misinformation”.
Letter from locals threatening refugees on Nauru. Seriously what a mess this whole offshore detention policy is in pic.twitter.com/Wca6qYsMHm
— sarah hanson-young (@sarahinthesen8) November 17, 2014
“We do not believe there is any increased risk to refugees on the island,” it read.
“There continues to be a campaign of misinformation by refugee groups both outside and within Nauru, backed by some sections of the media.
These people clearly have a political agenda and they are willing to do and say anything to achieve it.
“…We currently cannot confirm if these were authored by a Nauruan, a refugee, refugee advocates or any other party who seeks to jeopardise the resettlement program.”
The Refugee Action Coalition claims one refugee has been forced to resign as a carpenter due to harassment.
Spokesman Ian Rintoul said that in a separate incident last weekend, angry locals smashed a refugee’s bicycle and urinated on him.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has previously stated any incidents concerning refugees resettled on Nauru, and no longer being housed at the island detention centre, were a matter for the Nauru government.
In late October, teenage refugees were attacked on their way home from a swim at the beach and one required hospital treatment.
-AAP