Not a single journalist has been allowed into the controversial Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea since it reopened to Australian refugees nine months ago.
SBS Dateline's Mark Davis tries to change that and uncover what the Australian Government is hiding behind the security fence.
In exclusive interviews with detention centre guards and an inmate, Mark learns of attempted suicides and self-harm among the desperate asylum seekers.
"They go crazy, they start cutting themselves and trying to hang themselves," one guard tells Mark after agreeing to speak anonymously.
One of the reasons, it emerges for the first time, is that there hasn't been a single processing interview to assess their claims since the centre opened last August.
But in trying to gain access, Mark has to contend with having his footage deleted by the authorities, a bugged car and endless bureaucracy.
The Australian Government insists that it's Papua New Guinea preventing journalists from seeing the detention centre for themselves, but PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill tells a different story.
“We have allowed every visitor in our country to go to any part of the country if they so desire, so there’s no restrictions on our part,” O’Neill says. “I can assure you that you are free to go to Manus any time you want.”
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