‘WE WILL USE FORCE’
Authorities will move in if refugees refuse to leave by tomorrow
REFUGEES holed up in a closed Australian detention camp on Papua New Guinea were warned yesterday that authorities would move in, using force if necessary, if they do not leave by the weekend.
The remote facility on Manus Island, which holds asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat, was closed more than a week ago after the PNG Supreme Court ruled last year it was unconstitutional.
But 600 men have refused to move to transition centres, saying they fear locals there would be hostile.
Water, power and food supplies have been cut, with a PNG court rejecting one refugee’s application to have them restored.
With conditions deteriorating, PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said the holdouts must move to the new accommodation.
“The Manus centre was established for the sole reason of processing asylum claims. All claims have been processed and the centre has closed,” he said.
He warne d “appropri a te means” would be used to “apprehend individuals who are causing anxiety and violence”.
“Their actions are now heading towards a law-and-order situation, as well as a hygiene and sanitation problem, and it will be dealt with as such, whether they are genuine refugees or not.”
A notice put up at the camp yesterday warned “force may be used to relocate those who refuse to move voluntarily” by tomorrow.