An Australian refugee advocate says an Australian Senate inquiry into abuse at the asylum seeker detention centre in Nauru is likely to be ignored.
The Senate Committee's scathing 132-page report says the centre is not well run, and that the Australian government should speed up the removal of children and move towards a more open centre.
It also calls for a full audit into allegations of sexual abuse and other crimes, and proper access for human rights organisations and the media.
Refugee children on Nauru. Photo: supplied
But the government Senators on the committee have issued a dissenting report, saying the inquiry was politically motivated, and the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, says it was a political witch-hunt by an opposition-dominated committee.
The Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul says the response is typical of a government that has turned a blind eye to abuse at the centre.
"It's been very well known that this is happening and finally it was forced on the government. They thought, I think, that the inquiry would just flick it off but the inquiry confirmed that there were systematic abuse. We've got numerous cases of first-hand testimony, and the Senate inquiry was really just the tip of the iceberg."
