Immigration policy turmoil

> Australia under pressure after PNG closes camp

SYDNEY: Australia’s hardline immigration policy was thrown into turmoil yesterday after Papua New Guinea ordered a processing camp to close, leaving the fate of hundreds of asylum-seekers hanging in the balance.

The move to shutter the Australianfunded Manus island facility follows a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday that detaining people there was unconstitutional and illegal.

Piling further pressure on Canberra, just weeks out from an expected election campaign, an Iranian refugee set himself on fire during a visit by UN officials to Nauru, the other Pacific nation where Australia sends boatpeople.

Four others on the tiny outpost reportedly attempted suicide by drinking washing powder on Tuesday.

“Respecting this (court) ruling, Papua New Guinea will immediately ask the Australian government to make alternative arrangements for the asylum-seekers currently held at the Regional Processing Centre,” Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said of the Manus camp.

Papua New Guinea’s former opposition leader Belden Namah had challenged the Manus arrangement in court, claiming it violated the rights of asylum-seekers, leading to the centre’s closure.

In a 34-page finding on Tuesday, the Supreme Court found that detaining them on the island was “contrary to their constitutional right of personal liberty”.

Despite this, Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton remained adamant that none of the 850 or so men held there would come to his country and that the government’s policy designed to deter others wanting to make the risky journey would not change.

“We want to see people off Manus and off Nauru, but they won’t be coming to Australia,” he told national radio ahead of O’Neill’s decision.

“The government’s been very clear and consistent in that message. We’ll work with PNG and provide what support is needed to them to help people return to their country of origin or to a third country.”

Canberra currently has an arrangement with Cambodia, along with Papua New Guinea, to resettle those found to be refugees, although only a handful have taken up the option. – AFP