The Nauruan government has issued a rare statement insisting it is a “friendly” and “welcoming” country after a whistleblower alleged “serious threats of physical violence” were made against a group of non-citizens removed there by the Albanese government.
The unexpected defence, sent shortly after midday Thursday, was mounted hours after independent MP Andrew Wilkie used his three-minute constituency statement to read claims from an anonymous whistleblower familiar with the arrangements of the secretive $2.5bn deal between Australia and Nauru.
The person, who claimed to be involved in the process through their employment, said the serious threats arose from “numerous conversations” and “were not idly made”.
“They were said with a tone and gravity that indicated, at best, an indifference to the dignity and wellbeing of the removed cohort, and at worst, an active desire to cause them serious harm,” Wilkie said, reading out the whistleblower’s statement.
“I came to understand that those responsible for overseeing the removed cohort had a fundamental lack of respect for the humanity and rights of the cohort.
“The threats included comments that those removed were, quote, ‘absolute fucking pieces of shit’, who in Nauru would be mistreated in such a way to make, quote, ‘very clear’ how they are going to be managed for the rest of their lives.”
The person said they needed to remain anonymous due to fears about their employment security and physical safety.
The Nauruan government’s rebuttal said the group had free access to “modern sports facilities, employment opportunities and a relaxed, Pacific way of life”.
“Nauru is one of the safest countries in the Pacific, if not the world,” the statement said.
“We are a friendly, welcoming people and this welcome extends to those who arrive as part of our arrangement with Australia.”
Former refugee processing camp ‘isolated’ and ‘demoralising’
Guardian Australia has spoken to advocates and an NZYQ-affected man on the tiny Pacific island – home to about 12,000 residents – who warn the conditions are poor and unsustainable.
Twelve men formerly held indefinitely in Australian immigration detention centres until the landmark 2023 high court ruling now reside in the former regional process centre in Nauru’s north.
Australian authorities have been systematically applying for 30-year Nauruan visas on behalf of the 350-or-so former detainees since February 2025. After Nauru grants a visa under the arrangement, the non-citizen can be re-detained in immigration detention until their removal to Nauru.
More than 30 others have been re-detained since being granted a visa, home affairs department officials confirmed in Senate estimates last month.
Tony Kellisar, who arrived in the camp last month after his high court challenge was dismissed, has begun a hunger strike in protest of the conditions, which he described as living in a “hellhole” before sewing his lips shut in protest.
The 64-year-old Iranian-born refugee, who was convicted of murdering his wife in 1999, was released from jail and placed into indefinite immigration until the high court’s 2023 ruling in favour of NZYQ.
In a five-page document, seen by Guardian Australia, Kellisar outlined the camp’s isolated location, the “terrible state” of medical care, inadequate allowance for the price groceries and a lack of assistance by Nauruan officials as reasons behind the “demoralising” situation.
The camp is isolated from the main population, surrounded by coastal scrub and patches of jungle. The walk to the main road that loops around the island takes about 90 minutes in the humid, tropical weather.
The men are transported by car once a fortnight to the city to shop with Nauruan safety officers, though two of the cohort have acquired motorbikes, Kellisar said.
Guardian Australia has seen footage of one man, who arrived in late May, in a wheelchair, struggling to enter his room without assistance.
A home affairs department spokesperson said Nauru was responsible for managing the cohort once they reached the island. The spokesperson added the Pacific nation had “established processes to address medical concerns for settled persons in Nauru, including access to a range of physical and mental health supports”.
Kellisar has also claimed he and the other men have attempted to open bank accounts and obtain travel documents, in some cases trying for months, but were told by Nauruan officials it was a decision for the Australian government.
A department spokesperson said banking access was a matter for Australia’s Commonwealth Bank, which runs the local banking system, and travel documents were a matter for Nauru.
A $2.5bn deal shrouded in secrecy
Australia and Nauru have signed a memorandum of understanding to provide the guardrails for the arrangement, expected to cost at least $2.5bn over three decades.
That MoU, however, is subject to a public interest immunity claim.
What is known is that around $20m of the first instalment was expected to become immediately available for the Nauruan government to “facilitate the settlement” of the cohort.
The remaining $388m provided to Nauru once the deal was inked was to go into a sovereign trust fund, jointly run by Nauru and Australia.
In Senate estimates last month, the home department’s first assistant secretary, Ben Biddington, revealed he was one of the overseeing committee’s board members while Damon Adeang, the Nauruan finance secretary and the Nauruan president’s son, was the other.
Biddington confirmed he had signed off on a $31.5m withdrawal. Nauruan government documents show about $22.7m of it went to the finance department, with $1.9m going to the president’s office.
Nauru’s trust fund will receive a further $70m each year from Australia as part of the deal, totalling more than $2.5bn across the three decades. A yearly $1,000 fee for each long-stay visa will also apply.
The deal’s fine print allows Australia to allegedly “claw back” any funds provided to the trust should Nauru fail to deliver on the deal.