Nauru: Iranian refugee couple pelted with rocks by local men, sources say
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Version 0 of 1. An Iranian refugee couple has been taken to hospital after being pelted with rocks and knocked off their motorbike on Nauru on Monday night. The man and his wife were riding past the Menon Hotel in the capital Yaren about 10pm when local men began throwing rocks at them, sources on the island said. At least one large rock hit the man in the face, knocking him and his wife from the bike. Onlookers found him unconscious on the road, bleeding from a large gash on his face. The couple has been found to be refugees and has been settled in the Nauruan community. They were taken to hospital, where the man regained consciousness and was able to speak to other refugees. The attack is the latest in a string of assaults. Asylum seekers and refugees, sent by Australia to Nauru to be resettled on the island, have reported rising hostility. A series of street demonstrations held by refugees and asylum seekers this month, protesting against Australian government policies and conditions on Nauru, further inflamed tensions. Video footage taken during one of the protests showed a Nauruan man, not in any uniform, walking from behind a line of police to punch a refugee who was filming the protests. After the protests, a six-year-old asylum seeker lost two teeth when a guard reportedly threw rocks at children inside the family camp. The camp has also been stoned from outside several times. In an effort to separate the populations, refugees have been banned – by order of the Nauruan police chief, Corey Caleb – from going to certain parts of the island, including the hospital, schools, parliament, wharves, ports and the airport. Tension between locals and refugees predates this month’s protests. In November an Iranian refugee was left blind in one eye after a rock attack by locals in the capital. And in the same month, a letter was distributed in the asylum seekers’ camps, and to the houses where refugees live, warning them to leave the island. The letter, signed “The Youth of Nauru”, warned of “bad things happening” if refugees stayed, and told them to stop taking jobs and fraternising with local women. “Refugees are taking over all our job opportunities and spreading over our small congested community, making our lives miserable,” it said. In October, four unaccompanied minor refugees – aged between 15 and 17 – were assaulted by a group of Nauruan men. One of the boys was taken to hospital with head injuries. Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition, said his organisation feared for refugees’ safety. “There is no sign that the police take these attacks seriously. In some cases, the police do not even come to the scene of the attack,” he said. Rintoul said there was no future for refugees on Nauru, as the island nation would not allow permanent resettlement. He said the Australian government was paying tens of millions of dollars each year for a temporary solution. Guardian Australia has approached the immigration department for comment. Caleb did not return calls. The legal fallout from the refugees’ protests continues. It is understood at least 10 refugees, including three children, have been instructed they must appear before the district court on Wednesday over their role in the protests. Their bail notices do not specify what charges they will face. Guardian Australia has spoken to five people – three on the island, and two off it who have close connections to the refugee community, and expatriate workers on the island – who have corroborated the refugees’ version of events. But a spokesman for the Nauruan government has vigorously denied any rocks were thrown. The spokesman said the two refugees were speeding on the motorcycle and that the driver was “suspected of being under the influence of alcohol”. “There was no one throwing rocks and no one in the area except for the two people on the motorcycle. These accusations are completely fabricated.” The spokesman said the refugee couple initially appeared to have only minor injuries. “However, a group of other refugees then arrived and the woman started to wail and the man pretended he was almost dead. “This is an example of the extreme lengths that a minority of refugees supported by refugee advocacy groups will go to, in order to twist the truth.” Police were still investigating the refugees’ report that rocks were thrown at the motorbike, an island source said Tuesday night. |