The government of Nauru (a tiny Pacific island nation of roughly 12,000 people) has issued an unusual public statement defending itself as a "friendly" and "welcoming" country, after an anonymous whistleblower alleged that serious threats of physical violence had been made against a group of non-citizens transferred there under a secretive deal with Australia. Australian independent MP Andrew Wilkie read the whistleblower's claims in parliament, including alleged remarks that those removed would be mistreated to make "very clear" how they would be managed for the rest of their lives. The allegations centre on around a dozen men formerly held in Australian immigration detention who were released following a landmark 2023 High Court ruling but have since been removed to a former detention camp in Nauru under a 30-year, $2.5 billion bilateral arrangement — with one man reportedly staging a hunger strike and sewing his lips shut to protest conditions he described as a "hellhole".