Refugees afraid to leave Manus detention centre
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Hundreds of refugees at the Manus Island detention centre are stockpiling rainwater and preparing for attacks by hostile local residents after soldiers cut off supplies and electricity in an effort to force them to leave.
The camp, set up to hold asylum seekers trying to reach Australia by boat, was ordered to close by a court in Papua New Guinea, with a deadline set for Tuesday.
However, the 600 male refugees, mostly from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have refused to go, saying they fear for their safety in the nearby town.
Australia has refused to admit them, and PNG insists it cannot be held responsible for them, even though several have been attacked by local residents.
Residents, some armed with machetes, stormed the camp and stole air conditioners and furniture after the staff were evacuated and taken back to Australia in the final hours before the deadline.
The PNG government has tried unsuccessfully to persuade the remaining refugees at the Manus Island camp to move to alternative accommodation on the island.
Nick McKim, an Australian Green senator who is visiting Manus Island, said the closure of the centre and the departure of all the staff had left the refugees at the mercy of the PNG military, with no food or drinking water. He said 100 local residents had taken to the streets demanding the refugees be sent to Australia.
McKim called Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton a ‘‘monster’’ over the closure of the centre.
He said he had seen first-hand the suffering of the people there, and anybody who would deliberately cause such harm ‘‘easily qualifies’’ as a monster.
Dutton attacked McKim for what he said was spreading false information and inciting trouble in the tense final hours of the centre’s shutdown.
‘‘It’s a badge of honour to be attacked by a racist, a fascist, a monster, and a serial abuser of human rights like Peter Dutton,’’ McKim said yesterday.
‘‘I take it as confirmation that I’m on the right track and I should keep on exposing the truth about what’s happening on Manus Island.’’
Acting Australian Prime Minister Julie Bishop said it made ‘‘no sense’’ for detainees to stay at the centre, but she would not guarantee their safety if they left.
Electricity has so far been cut to at least half the buildings at the centre. The refugees and asylum seekers who remain inside the compound have little water left, and their electricity generators have either been switched off or have run out of fuel. The last food packs were distributed to them on Sunday night.
PNG authorities have said they will move the men into purposebuilt accommodation in the nearby town of Lorengau. A refugee named Hussein, originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, said the facility wasn’t ready and locals had blocked and protested its construction.