Australia agrees to close detention center on PNG
Leaked documents have detailed 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse and assaults
Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Thursday that they had agreed to close a controversial Australian-funded asylum seeker detention center on Manus Island, although the ultimate fate of 800 refugees held in the camp remained unclear.
Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or toManusIslandoffPapuaNew Guinea. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.
Some asylum seekers have spent years in the camps, which have been criticized by the United Nations and human rights groups, with numerous reports of abuse and self-harm among detainees, including children.
Some in Papua New Guinea are unhappy with the prospect of hundreds of asylum seekers being resettled into their country and there have been reports of asylum seekers being attacked by locals.
“Both Papua New Guinea andAustraliaareinagreement that the center is to be closed. Elaine Pearson, A series of options are being advanced and implemented. It is important that this process is not rushed out but carried out in a careful manner,” Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said.
There was no mention of a closing date.
Australian Immigration MinisterPeterDutton,whomet withO’NeillonThursdaytodiscuss the camp, reiterated Australia’s position that it would not accept any of the refugees detained in Papua New Guinea.
“It has been the long-standing position of this government to work with PNG to close Manus and support those people as they transition into PNG or return to their country of origin,” Dutton said.
“Our position, confirmed again today with PNG, is that no one from Manus Island Regional Processing Centre will ever be settled in Australia.”
The announcement came after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm, reported over two years at the Nauru detention center. In April, Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruled that the Australian-run detention center there was unconstitutional.
Wide criticism
The harsh conditions and reports of systemic child abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism at home and abroad.
Australia said the policy is needed to stop asylum seekers dying at sea on the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia to Australia. Hundreds of people died attempting the trip in the years before the policy was put in place.
The move was immediately welcomedbyrefugeeadvocates.
“Nearly a thousand men on Manus have already lost three or more years of their lives locked up in limbo for no good reason,” Elaine Pearson, an humanrightsactivistinAustralia, said in a statement.
“They’ve endured dirty, cramped conditions, inadequate medical care and violence. Finally, it is time to let them move on with their lives in safety and dignity. Giant panda Yang Yang gave birth nine days ago and CCTV monitoring at Vienna’s Schoenbrunn Zoo did not show her secret until late last week — she had not one but two cubs keeping warm between her massive paws. Pictures and video footage from the zoo showed the two tiny pink cubs resting on Yang Yang’s chest as she lay on her back. Yang Yang has given birth to three other cubs, all of which are now in China.
Nearly a thousand men on Manus have already lost three or more years of their lives locked up in limbo for no good reason.”
human rights activist