Australia’s immigration minister accuses asylum seekers of lying
BBC News reports that Australia’s immigration minister has said asylum seekers lie about sexual abuse and deliberately self-harm in efforts to be allowed to come to come and remain in Australia. It sounds like the cries made about “asylum abuse” for years in the United States.
Peter Dutton made the comments a day after 2,000 leaked reports from the Nauru detention centre were published online. The “Nauru papers” describe allegations of sexual abuse, instances of self-harm and squalid living conditions. Their release has renewed calls for Australia to review its policies. The Guardian published the entirety of the leaked material, which consists of reports written by staff members at the Nauru detention centre between 2013 and 2015, in an online database.
But Mr Dutton downplayed the leak, saying most of the allegations had “been reported before.”
