Nauru police have raided the offices of Save the Children workers who assist asylum seekers on the island, seizing computers and mobile phones, Fairfax Media understands.
The Nauru police are believed to have executed a warrant on Saturday on the organisation's offices inside the detention centre, where they seized laptops and phones, and searched the bags of staff.
It is understood the raid may be connected to an article published by Guardian Australia. It referred to an email titled "media on site", in which Nauruan operations manager Berilyn Jeremiah reportedly advised detention centre staff that the Nauruan government would allow Nauruan journalists to enter the detention centre to "reinstate balance" in media reporting.
Foreign journalists must pay an $8000 visa fee to visit Nauru, which is not refunded if the application is rejected. Al-Jazeera has reported that Nauruan officials have "banned all journalists from reporting from the country", however the Nauru government denies this.
Save the Children did not confirm the raid but insisted its staff behave "with great integrity, compassion and professionalism in their work on Nauru protecting children and families from harm".
"We fully expect this to apply to all aspects of our service delivery, including obligations to maintain confidentiality,' a spokeswoman for the organisation said, adding "we have no reason to believe that our staff have acted inappropriately".
Save the Children was assisting the Nauru Police Force with its inquiries and "our priority remains working to mitigate the harmful impacts of offshore immigration detention, to the extent that the circumstances allow," she said.
It is understood Australian Border Force officials were nearby when the raid took place. However the Department of Immigration and Border Protection says it was not involved in the raids, and has directed all enquiries to the Nauru police.
The Nauru Police Force is yet to respond to a request for comment.
A Senate inquiry into Nauru centre in August heard alarming reports of abuse and assaults involving asylum seekers, and found Nauru police had laid charges in just five out of 50 cases referred to them.
Save the Children workers were deported from Nauru last year following claims by then-Immigration Minister Scott Morrison that they encouraged asylum seekers to self-harm and fabricate stories of abuse. The claims were found to be without substance and the organisation is yet to receive an explanation for the incident.
At the time, Mr Morrison said the workers were "employed to do a job, not to be political activists".
Some of the nine staff removed have suffered mental illness and spent long periods out of work after being deported and publicly accused of wrongdoing.
As Fairfax Media reported this month, the federal government called in the Australian Federal Police to investigate information leaks from the Nauru detention camp six times in as many months, prompting claims it is pursuing whistleblowers instead of those who allegedly assaulted and raped asylum seekers.
While Immigration Minister Peter Dutton insists that crimes allegedly committed in the Nauru centre should be dealt with by the island's local police, his department routinely asks Australia's top law enforcement body to probe who is disclosing information from inside the camp.
Leaks about alarming incidents at the Australian-funded facility add fuel to domestic and international claims the government has abandoned its human rights obligations by allowing asylum seekers to live in dangerous, inhumane conditions.
