Tensions high on Nauru amid mass arrests

Transcript

At least 40 refugees on Nauru have been arrested for protesting, a day after authorities imposed heavy-handed restrictions to stop such gatherings.

The limits follow a week of protests and a campaign of non-cooperation by refugees.

Groups of three or more which do not disperse within 15 minutes could be arrested and face up to three years in jail.

Johnny Blades spoke with reporter Jamie Tahana:

JAMIE TAHANA: Nauru's government says about 40 people were arrested yesterday and this morning. Refugee advocates in Australia say that could be as many as 150 people, and includes at least one family group with children, and a 13-year-old who was arrested as a protest leader.
The men have been taken to the Yaren police station where they're being held together in a police cell, while female refugees are being held in a separate location. Footage from inside the cell shows the men chanting freedom. The arrests come as the Nauru government has imposed heavy-handed limits on what the refugees call a campaign of non-co-operation. A notice distributed on Tuesday says groups of three or more which do not disperse within 15 minutes could be arrested and face charges carrying penalties of up to three years in jail.

JOHNNY BLADES: But that didn't stop protests happening on Wednesday?:

JT: This afternoon about 50 refugees blocked a road near Nauru's civic centre and continued to protest. A local photographer, Clint Deidenang, says they were sitting around protesting with police trying to negotiate with them. He says road blocks were set up around the island, blocking access to the asylum seeker detention centres and the main road to the government office.

JB: And there has been tensions with local Nauruans:

JT: Police had to keep the protesters separate from angry locals who also gathered. Clint Deidenang says tensions are high on the island with a significant minority of the population opposed to the resettlement of Australia's asylum seekers on Nauru. Mr Deidenang says some aren't happy with that arrangement, and that showed today.  The locals are angry with these protests that have been going on. They don't like what's happening in their country. Nauru's a pretty small country and now they see these people coming from abroad and creating chaos in their country.

JB: What has the government said?

JT: Attempts to reach the Nauru police or the government for clarification have been unsuccessful. The Nauru government says about 40 refugees were arrested for blocking a road. The government says while the majority of the 500 refugees on the island do not wish to participate in these protests, a small group of troublemakers are attempting to incite others.
It has again said that the protestors are backed and encouraged by refugee advocates from Australia. The government says police have attempted to provide the refugees with guidelines for a peaceful protest. There have been a series of protests since last week about what the refugees say are the slave like conditions they live in and the animosity of many Nauruans towards them.