August 30, 2007 The Oz
SIX Sri Lankan asylum-seekers in immigration detention on Nauru have been charged with the rape and indecent assault of a 20-year-old Nauruan woman, in a case likely to reignite debate about the merits of the Coalition's Pacific Solution.
On Tuesday, Nauruan police charged one Sri Lankan asylum-seeker with rape and five others with indecent assault, a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews confirmed to The Australian yesterday.
The six allegedly assaulted the local woman on Monday afternoon while in the community under the "open centre arrangements" of Nauru's immigration detention facility, run for the Australian Government by the International Organisation for Migration ...
Under the arrangement between Australia and Nauru, asylum-seekers held there are allowed free movement in the community from 8am to 7pm.
It is believed the victim required hospital treatment ...
