Dozens of asylum seekers held in a detention center in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have elected to accept cash from Australia to return to their home countries, officials and refugees said, the largest exodus from the South Pacific camp in four years.
Australia has ratcheted up efforts to clear the Manus Island detention center of people who have twice had their refugee claims rejected, amid fears a deal for the US to take refugees has fallen through.
Media late last reported month that asylum seekers were being repeatedly called to meet with Australian officials and pressured to take amounts of up to US$25,000 to return to their home countries or face deportation.
As legal attempts to halt the threat of deportation stall, as many 29 men, all of whom have spent four years in detention, have elected to leave in the past few weeks, sources familiar with the situation told reporters.
A group of nine Nepalese men would depart PNG today, one source said.
One source said that about 14 detainees have asked the International Organization for Migration to facilitate their transfer home.
Refugees on Manus Island said a further 15 have not used the organization to return home.
“There is a growing thought that it is better to move on and get on with our lives rather than hang onto some false hope,” an official Australian source, who declined to be named, told reporters. “We haven’t seen as many people leave since the first year of the camp being reopened in late 2012.”
Offering money to failed asylum seekers to return home is not illegal, but the sums being offered by Australia have more than doubled since a year ago and are far above the funds being offered elsewhere.
Germany has announced plans to offer up to 1,200 euros (US$1,263) to asylum seekers to return home.
After four years in detention in conditions widely criticized by organizations, such as the UN, many of the detainees are suffering mental health issues.
The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court last year ruled the Manus Island center breached human rights, was illegal and must close.
Voluntary returns of failed refugees would ease criticism of Australia and its policy of indefinite detention for anyone who attempts to make it to Australia by boat.
However, finding a solution for the refugees on Manus Island, the bulk of the more than 800 men held in PNG, would prove more difficult.
The US has agreed to resettle up 1,250 men, woman and children on Manus Island and Nauru, though security interviews have stalled, hinting Washington might be leaning toward revoking on the deal.
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