Directed by Sami El-Enany
Sound and Music by Sami El-Enany
Edited by Asli Umut
Camera by Phillip Wood, Asli Umut and Tristan Martin
#NauruFilesReading was a political action and durational performance undertaken by activists outside Australia House, London on 26th August 2016. The performance involved the reading of the Nauru Files, a database of over 2000 incident reports leaked to the Guardian Australia. A result of the ten hour oral intervention is a sound archive of documented incidents of abuse, self- harm, humiliation and squalor that is everyday life for refugees on Nauru.The duration, monotony and repetition entailed in the reading of each file echoes the normalisation of the violence and tedium endured by refugees in indefinite detention.
For more information go to:
http://naurufilesreading.blogspot.co.uk
Nauru Files Reading is a durational performance involving the reading of the Nauru Files, a database of over 2000 incident reports leaked to the Guardian Australia from the Australian refugee detention centre in the Republic of Nauru. The Australian government detains refugees indefinitely on Christmas Island and on two remote Pacific islands, Nauru and Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) as part of its offshore detention policy designed to deter refugees from arriving in Australia by boat. More than 500 refugees are detained on Nauru, including many children. These refugees are from countries including Iran, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Refugees on Nauru are regularly subjected to abuse, violence, sexual assault and rape. Self-harm and suicide attempts are common. Two refugees have died on Nauru. Omid was a 23 year old refugee from Iran who died after self-immolating and receiving inadequate treatment in April 2016. Rakib was a 23 year old refugee from Bangladesh who died in May 2016 after overdosing on paracetamol. A 19 year old Somali refugee, Hodan, self-immolated in April 2016 and survived with burns to 70% of her body.
Nauru Files Reading is an unsanctioned live performance in defiance of Australia’s offshore detention of refugees. An oral intervention, Nauru Files Reading will produce a sound archive of documented incidents of abuse, self-harm, humiliation and squalor that is the everyday life for refugees on Nauru. In response to the Australian government’s refusal to close the camps and bring the detained refugees to Australia, this performance is a gesture of solidarity towards the detained refugees. The duration, monotony and repetition entailed in the reading of each file echoes the normalisation of the violence and tedium endured by refugees in indefinite detention.
Australia House, London, the performance site for Nauru Files Reading, marks Australian diplomatic territory in the heart of the colonial motherland. The narrative of abuse exposed by Nauru Files Reading directly contradicts the image the Australian High Commission seeks to convey of Australia as a progressive nation and a desirable destination for tourists, students, highly-skilled workers and international investors. Nauru Files Reading embodies the ongoing racist violence that has defined the settler colony of Australia since its inception.
Key players in Australian offshore detention
DIBP - The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (formerly ‘the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’) has been headed by Liberal Party Minister Peter Dutton since December 2014. Since July 2015, the department includes an armed operational agency known as Australian Border Force which oversees boat turn-backs and the forcible transportation of refugees to offshore camps and other detention facilities.
IHMS - International Health and Medical Service is a private medical service which has held successive contracts with Australia’s immigration department since 2009, totaling well over Aus$1.6bn. The company is owned by International SOS (Australasia), whose largest client is the US military.
Save The Children (STC) - This charity has been contracted by DIBP to provide education, recreation and child protection services to refugees on Nauru since August 2013. Following the Nauru files leak, 26 former STC workers publicly called for an end to offshore processing, stating that the files are "just the tip of the iceberg".
Broadspectrum (formerly known as ‘Transfiled’) - Broadspectrum is an Australian corporation which provides infrastructure maintenance services. Transfield Services has held a contract worth Aus$1.22 bn. for the provision of "welfare services" at Australia’s detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru since January 2014. It subcontracts security services at both sites to Wilson Security. The company changed its name to Broadspectrum after its founders withdrew its right to use the name "Transfield" due to the reputational damage done through its offshore detention centre contracts. As of May 2016, the Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial acquired a 90% share in Broadspectrum.
Wilson Security - Wilson Security is an Australian private security company. It is a subcontractor of Transfield Services at Australian offshore detention facilities. It has been working on Nauru since late 2012 and on Manus Island since February 2014. Wilson also holds significant contracts providing security services for Melbourne University, the Australian National University, and private carparks in central Sydney and Melbourne.
Directed by Sami El-Enany
Sound and Music by Sami El-Enany
Edited by Asli Umut
Camera by Phillip Wood, Asli Umut and Tristan Martin
#NauruFilesReading was a political action and durational performance undertaken by activists outside Australia House, London on 26th August 2016. The performance involved the reading of the Nauru Files, a database of over 2000 incident reports leaked to the Guardian Australia. A result of the ten hour oral intervention is a sound archive of documented incidents of abuse, self- harm, humiliation and squalor that is everyday life for refugees on Nauru.The duration, monotony and repetition entailed in the reading of each file echoes the normalisation of the violence and tedium endured by refugees in indefinite detention.
For more information go to:
http://naurufilesreading.blogspot.co.uk
Nauru Files Reading is a durational performance involving the reading of the Nauru Files, a database of over 2000 incident reports leaked to the Guardian Australia from the Australian refugee detention centre in the Republic of Nauru. The Australian government detains refugees indefinitely on Christmas Island and on two remote Pacific islands, Nauru and Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) as part of its offshore detention policy designed to deter refugees from arriving in Australia by boat. More than 500 refugees are detained on Nauru, including many children. These refugees are from countries including Iran, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Refugees on Nauru are regularly subjected to abuse, violence, sexual assault and rape. Self-harm and suicide attempts are common. Two refugees have died on Nauru. Omid was a 23 year old refugee from Iran who died after self-immolating and receiving inadequate treatment in April 2016. Rakib was a 23 year old refugee from Bangladesh who died in May 2016 after overdosing on paracetamol. A 19 year old Somali refugee, Hodan, self-immolated in April 2016 and survived with burns to 70% of her body.
Nauru Files Reading is an unsanctioned live performance in defiance of Australia’s offshore detention of refugees. An oral intervention, Nauru Files Reading will produce a sound archive of documented incidents of abuse, self-harm, humiliation and squalor that is the everyday life for refugees on Nauru. In response to the Australian government’s refusal to close the camps and bring the detained refugees to Australia, this performance is a gesture of solidarity towards the detained refugees. The duration, monotony and repetition entailed in the reading of each file echoes the normalisation of the violence and tedium endured by refugees in indefinite detention.
Australia House, London, the performance site for Nauru Files Reading, marks Australian diplomatic territory in the heart of the colonial motherland. The narrative of abuse exposed by Nauru Files Reading directly contradicts the image the Australian High Commission seeks to convey of Australia as a progressive nation and a desirable destination for tourists, students, highly-skilled workers and international investors. Nauru Files Reading embodies the ongoing racist violence that has defined the settler colony of Australia since its inception.
Key players in Australian offshore detention
DIBP - The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (formerly ‘the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’) has been headed by Liberal Party Minister Peter Dutton since December 2014. Since July 2015, the department includes an armed operational agency known as Australian Border Force which oversees boat turn-backs and the forcible transportation of refugees to offshore camps and other detention facilities.
IHMS - International Health and Medical Service is a private medical service which has held successive contracts with Australia’s immigration department since 2009, totaling well over Aus$1.6bn. The company is owned by International SOS (Australasia), whose largest client is the US military.
Save The Children (STC) - This charity has been contracted by DIBP to provide education, recreation and child protection services to refugees on Nauru since August 2013. Following the Nauru files leak, 26 former STC workers publicly called for an end to offshore processing, stating that the files are "just the tip of the iceberg".
Broadspectrum (formerly known as ‘Transfiled’) - Broadspectrum is an Australian corporation which provides infrastructure maintenance services. Transfield Services has held a contract worth Aus$1.22 bn. for the provision of "welfare services" at Australia’s detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru since January 2014. It subcontracts security services at both sites to Wilson Security. The company changed its name to Broadspectrum after its founders withdrew its right to use the name "Transfield" due to the reputational damage done through its offshore detention centre contracts. As of May 2016, the Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial acquired a 90% share in Broadspectrum.
Wilson Security - Wilson Security is an Australian private security company. It is a subcontractor of Transfield Services at Australian offshore detention facilities. It has been working on Nauru since late 2012 and on Manus Island since February 2014. Wilson also holds significant contracts providing security services for Melbourne University, the Australian National University, and private carparks in central Sydney and Melbourne.