Wilson Security guards handcuffed asylum seeker boy on Nauru as a 'joke'

Four Wilson Security guards used a “cable tie” to handcuff an eight-year-old asylum seeker boy on Nauru as “a joke”, an apparent contradiction of Wilson’s bosses who told the Senate the use of restraints is a “very rare” response used only after a situation has escalated.

A Wilson Security incident report from December 2013, seen by Guardian Australia, states that the boy, then aged eight, was in the recreation tent area of the family camp on Nauru.

The report states: “4 Wilson CSOs [Client Services Officers] tied [the boy’s] hands together using a black cable tie.”

“STC [Save the Children] worker noticed and walked over to the group. Worker was informed ‘It’s just a joke, maybe now he’ll stop fighting’. All 4 CSOs were smiling. [The boy] did not appear to be immediately distressed.”

The Save the Children worker asked that the child be freed. The ties binding his hands were cut with a “pocket knife type tool” and he was allowed to leave.

The boy who was tied up had been identified as a “vulnerable minor” by Save the Children.

He has a history of serious trauma in his home country and significant developmental issues that manifest as behavioural problems at school. He was often in fights with other children.

The boy was also later the victim of a reported sexual assault while in detention on Nauru. The incident is at odds with evidence given by top Wilson employees.

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Brett McDonald, security contracts manager for the company, last week told a Senate inquiry into the Nauru centre that it was “unusual” for a detainee to be restrained by security, and the use of flexicuffs in doing so was only “on a very rare occasion”.

“To get to a point where you restrain somebody you would go through a level of escalation first,” said McDonald, adding a person would normally restrain the detainee for a short period.

Wilson Security bosses have sought to differentiate between cable ties and the similar-looking plastic handcuffs called flexicuffs, after recent allegations that detainees had been cable-tied to bed frames which were then lifted and dropped to the ground.

McDonald, who was appearing with John Rogers, Wilson Security’s executive general manager, told the Senate inquiry there were no cable ties issued to Wilson Security employees, and that the only ones at the centre were used on fencing. When asked about restraints, McDonald conceded flexicuffs were used but “they are not cable ties”.

Inquiry chair Senator Alex Gallacher later presented an internet search result for flexicuffs to McDonald and Rogers.

“In the description it says, ‘a traditional form of plastic handcuffs are cable ties’. Then it gives you a photo. They are basically cable ties,” he said.

Wilson Security has been contacted for comment.

The Senate committee inquiry into allegations of abuse on Nauru is set to report next week.

The inquiry has received 100 submissions, mostly from former Nauru staff, who allege widespread abuses, including sexual assaults, spying, physical abuse, and medical neglect.