Tense stand-off continues at Manus detention centre, refugees 'fearing' for safety


READ MORE

Electricity has so far been cut to half the buildings at the Manus Island detention centre as refugees refusing to leave nervously await their future.


Australia’s offshore immigration centre at Lombrum Navy Base was officially closed on Tuesday.


However authorities face a stand-off with detainees unwilling to go and locals are reportedly blocking the construction of new refugee accommodation.


The more than 600 refugees and asylum seekers who remain inside the compound in Papua New Guinea have little water left and their electricity generators have either been switched off or let run out of fuel.


The last food packs were distributed to them on Sunday night.





Papua New Guinea’s government says force will not be used to remove refugees from Australia’s processing centre on Manus Island after fears there would be violence as it shuts.




Tamil refugee Srirangan told AAP on Tuesday refugees were concerned about dehydration but feared for their lives as well, with troops from PNG expected to arrive on Wednesday.


He said the buildings has also become too hot to be in and “many of us are outside … and will have to sleep on the ground”.


Another Tamil refugee, Ravi, told AAP by phone detainees were trying to collect water in bins and containers but “there had been no rain”.


Authorities in PNG have said they will move refugees and asylum seekers into purpose-built accommodation in the nearby town of Lorengau.




Hussein, originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, said the facility wasn’t ready and that locals had blocked and protested its’ construction.


He added that some had looted tents, tables, boxes, fire alarms, fans, air conditioners and “whatever they saw” from Manus on Tuesday.


PNG lawyer representing the detainees, Ben Lomai, said he lodged a legal application to block the centre’s closure on Tuesday.


The constitution in PNG held enforceable protections for human rights, which Mr Lomai said had been breached.


Greens senator Nick McKim is on the island and spoke with centre occupants on Tuesday afternoon.


“They still believe that despite everything that’s happened to them at the detention centre it remains the least unsafe place for them to be,” he said, adding that he believed there was still a 150-bed shortfall at alternative facilities.


The Lombrum centre was forced to close after the PNG Supreme Court ruled in April 2016 that Australia’s detention of refugees and asylum seekers there was illegal and unconstitutional.


Six detainees have died on Manus Island – including one who was murdered – since it was reopened in 2012.



A Human Rights Watch report last week detailed cases of refugees allegedly being stabbed and robbed in the town while trying to visit the supermarket.


Extra PNG police and defence forces had been flown into Manus.




Local media has reported PNG Immigration Minister Petrus Thomas as saying the detainees won’t be forced to leave the centre.


Acting prime minister Julie Bishop maintained refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island will be guaranteed all appropriate services at their alternative accommodation.


Immigration Minister Peter Dutton had little sympathy for those left.


“They have long claimed the Manus (centre) was a hellhole but the moment it was to be closed they demanded it be kept open,” he said.


Labor’s immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann urged the government to urgently de-escalate tensions and ensure safety.


“Transferring refugees from one centre to another is not a long-term solution. These people urgently need viable third country resettlement options,” he said.


Amnesty International’s Kate Schuetze, who is on Manus to observe the closure, said PNG police and defence forces had a history of violence against refugees.


Ms Schuetze pointed to the Good Friday shooting, when nine people were injured after PNG military personnel opened fire on the Manus Island centre.


PNG’s government has warned Australia it will take no responsibility for “non-refugees” and people who refuse to settle in PNG, saying they are the obligation of Australia.


The Lombrum centre was forced to close after the PNG Supreme Court ruled in April 2016 that Australia’s detention of refugees and asylum seekers there was illegal and unconstitutional.


Six detainees have died on Manus Island – including one who was murdered – since the detention centre was reopened in 2012.



Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sbsnews-topstories/~3/QjVoqCzYdOw/business-government-will-go-parry-awaits-citizenship-clarification-bishop

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World Cup Central: Dhoni, Akhtar, Botham in All Blacks all-time cricket XV

READ MORE Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print World Cup fever has crossed platforms. There was Harry Kane sneaking into India’s training sessions to meet Virat Kohli. And now there’s the All Blacks picking a XV made up of past and present cricketers. With the @cricketworldcup underway in England, we’ve taken a look at all the best players from past and present to select the ultimate Cricket XV! SQUAD NOTES https://t.co/B3rnj5OBuJ #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/KuUtPU77PT — All Blacks (@AllBlacks) June 2, 2019 And they’ve got some pretty cool reasons for picking some pretty cool players. Curtly Ambrose : If anyone wants to argue with this selection then take it up with Sir Curtly himself. We dare you. MS Dhoni : The Richie McCaw of Cricket. Enough said. Dwayne Leverock : Famous for his one-handed catch at the 2003 World Cup, the 130kg Bermudian would surely make just as big a splash on the rugby field. Jofra Archer runs in to bowl  Get...
Read more

Banned Bancroft's journey of self-discovery

Image
READ MORE © Getty Images Spanish lessons, yoga and a host of community work have all been part of the path taken by Cameron Bancroft since the Newlands ball-tampering scandal. The Australia batsman has been looking to seek the sort of perspective and self-knowledge that will prevent him from following the kind of instructions issued to him by David Warner in the Cape Town dressing room. Bancroft spoke in Perth on Saturday ahead of his return to cricket via Twenty20 and 50-over appearances in the Northern Territory, where he will also endeavour to work closely in developing local talent. It’s the next step on the path away from Newlands as Bancroft serves a nine-month ban from the game imposed by Cricket Australia under its code of conduct. Perspective on life was greatly needed as Bancroft, Warner and the former captain Steven Smith pondered what evolved in South Africa, and Bancroft said he had spent plenty of time devoting himself broadening his own knowledge and also to...
Read more

Drones to become the new naval mine hunters under Morrison pledge

Image
READ MORE Advanced navies worldwide are increasingly turning to drones to do mine hunting and clearing work at sea. Marcus Hellyer, a former Defence Department official and now a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said that using autonomous and unmanned sea vehicles allowed the crewed ship to stay at the edge of a minefield, keeping naval personnel safer. The Morrison government has promised if re-elected to fast-track the building of two new mine hunting naval ships. Credit: Nine Newspapers “Common sense has prevailed,” he said of the decision. “Rather than keeping going down the path where you have old technology being extended at great cost, this will introduce new technology more quickly and that’s a good thing. “The current path does keep the human at the centre of the minefield, but the new approach lets them stay outside the minefield and let autonomous vehicles go in and do the dangerous work.” Article source: https:/...
Read more