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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Nauru 'asylum teenagers' start Facebook page despite ban | Nauru 'asylum teenagers' start Facebook page despite ban |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A Facebook page has been set up highlighting the plight of children in an Australian-run detention centre on Nauru, where the social site is banned. | |
| The BBC has been told three asylum seekers on Nauru, aged 12 to 16, run the Free the Children NAURU page. | The BBC has been told three asylum seekers on Nauru, aged 12 to 16, run the Free the Children NAURU page. |
| It features personal messages and artwork from children living in the detention centre. | |
| Anyone who tries to reach Australia by boat to claim asylum is held in offshore centres, including on Nauru. | Anyone who tries to reach Australia by boat to claim asylum is held in offshore centres, including on Nauru. |
| Australian government figures show that 92 children are in the Nauru centre, located about 4,500km northeast of Australia. | |
| Nauru has banned Facebook across its tiny nation since April, saying social media can create instability. | |
| It is not clear if the children who run the page will face any punishment if caught. | It is not clear if the children who run the page will face any punishment if caught. |
| 'Hear our voices' | 'Hear our voices' |
| The Facebook page appears to have been started around 2 November. | The Facebook page appears to have been started around 2 November. |
| The BBC has made contact with a person claiming to be the page moderator. | |
| The person, who is not in Nauru, said they set up the page and advised the three page curators. | |
| They use virtual private networks (VPNs) to get around Nauru's block on Facebook. | They use virtual private networks (VPNs) to get around Nauru's block on Facebook. |
| A message passed to the BBC, said to be from one of the teenagers, said: "We want everyone to hear our voices and the situation we [are] going through. We want others to gives us hope and to help us to cope with [this] bad situation. | A message passed to the BBC, said to be from one of the teenagers, said: "We want everyone to hear our voices and the situation we [are] going through. We want others to gives us hope and to help us to cope with [this] bad situation. |
| "We thought if we create this page many other [people] can see us and [walk] in our shoes." | "We thought if we create this page many other [people] can see us and [walk] in our shoes." |
| Under Australia's Border Force act it is illegal for anyone employed directly or indirectly by the immigration department to talk to the media about detention centre operations. | |
| Charity Save the Children's offices on Nauru have been raided twice in an effort to find the source of an email that was leaked to the media. | |
| But Save the Children told the BBC that the organisation was not responsible for the Free the Children NAURU page. | |
| The group was providing education and welfare services for migrant children and families on Nauru until its contract expired last month. | |
| Australia's government has been urged to remove children from the Nauru detention centre, with a senate committee report in September stating that conditions were not "appropriate or safe" for detainees. | Australia's government has been urged to remove children from the Nauru detention centre, with a senate committee report in September stating that conditions were not "appropriate or safe" for detainees. |
| Australia and asylum | Australia and asylum |
| Is Australia's Cambodia solution 'an expensive joke'? | Is Australia's Cambodia solution 'an expensive joke'? |
| Australia's controversial asylum policy | Australia's controversial asylum policy |