Tensions were high on a Papua New Guinea (PNG) island yesterday as authorities prepared to close an Australian refugee camp, with local police calling for calm as some detainees refused to move.
The Manus Island detention center, to close tomorrow, is one of two Pacific camps where asylum-seekers who try to enter Australia by boat are sent for processing under Canberra’s immigration policy.
Refugees had been given the option of moving to the other center on the island of Nauru, but most detainees have shunned the offer, expressing fears that relocation could further prolong their agony.
Some have also refused to relocate on Manus, citing safety fears amid reports they would not be welcomed in local neighborhoods.
“The guys [refugees] have said they will stay, they don’t intend to move,” Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said. “As of today, the mess is closed so food will no longer be available inside the detention center and they [the center’s management] are going to be issuing food packs ... for two days.”
The plan to close the Manus center came after a ruling by PNG’s Supreme Court last year that holding people there was unconstitutional.
Australian Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton previously said the Manus facility would close by the end of this month.
Conditions in both camps have been widely criticized by refugee advocates and medical professionals amid reports of widespread abuse, self-harm and mental health problems.
Detainees are barred from being transferred to Australia and Canberra has tried to resettle them in third countries.
It struck a deal with former US president Barack Obama for the US to resettle an unspecified number of the detainees, but so far just 54 people have been notified of their acceptance and a group of only 24 have flown out.
Hundreds more remain at the camp.
PNG police said they would help move the detainees to temporary locations, but added that the safety of refugees and government workers was “not to be taken for granted.”
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