Half refugees ‘fake’

AS Manus Island detention centre is prepared for closure, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton revealed only “about half” of its detainees had been found to be genuine refugees.

Mr Dutton restated the centre would be closed by October 31 and confirmed it would gradually start shutting down in the lead-up to that deadline.

“As you would expect in the run-up in the end of October there will be decommissioning of certain parts of the regional processing centre,” he told Sky News. While there are about 800 detainees on Manus Island, Mr Dutton said “just about half” had been found to be genuine refugees.

He said those half found not to be refugees would not be considered for the resettlement deal with the US.

“They won’t be coming to Australia and they find themselves illegally in PNG. Those people will have to go back voluntarily. (If they don’t) that’s an issue for the PNG government and ... authorities.”