PNG refugees told to leave by this weekend
SYDNEY: Refugees holed up in a closed Australian detention camp on Papua New Guinea were warned authorities will move in, using force if necessary, if they do not leave by the weekend.
The remote facility on Manus Island – one of two offshore centres that 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 some 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 Papua New Guinea court on Tuesday 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. Now all claims have been processed and the centre has closed,” he said.
“Given the Supreme Court’s decision, the government has no choice but to intervene for the well-being of both the refugees and non-refugees.”
He warned that “appropriate means” would be used to “apprehend individuals who are causing unnecessary anxiety and violence”.
A notice put up at the camp yesterday warned “force may be used to relocate those who refuse to move voluntarily” by tomorrow.