Refugees on the Manus Island

Manus Island: Refugees refuse to leave Australian camp amid safety fear

Refugees held by Australia in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have barricaded themselves inside a detention centre and launched legal action to fight its closure.

Detainees, fearing for their safety after crowds reportedly gathered chanting "don't come out", argue that closure will breach their human rights.

Australia holds asylum seekers arriving by boat in camps on PNG's Manus Island and the small Pacific nation of Nauru.

The Manus Island centre is due to close after it was ruled unconstitutional.

However many of those in the camp argue that its closure, ordered by a PNG court and initially scheduled for Tuesday, will deny them access to water, electricity and security.

The local authorities said these provisions would cease at 17:00 local time (07:00 GMT), and that PNG defence authorities could enter the centre as early as Wednesday.

Refugees told the BBC that detainees planned to protest peacefully, and had begun stockpiling water and dry biscuits, as well as setting up makeshift catchments for rainwater.

They claimed that local residents began looting the compound on Tuesday after security guards left.

Under a controversial policy, Australia refuses to take in anyone trying to reach its territories unofficially by boat. They are all intercepted and held in the Nauru and Manus Island detention centres.

Why don't refugees want to leave?

About 600 men have been told to leave the camp, but many have reportedly barricaded themselves inside due to fears for their safety if transferred to temporary accommodation in the Manus Island community.

The news has raised concerns of a possible siege at the facility.

"Navy and police [are] heavily armed, but we don't know who they want to go to war with, locals or refugees. So scary," tweeted Manus detainee Behrouz Boochani..

Mr Boochani added that "angry" locals were protesting in front of the camp chanting "don't come out".

Last week, Human Rights Watch warned that the group could face "unchecked violence" by local people who had attacked them in the past - sometimes with machetes and rocks.

Where would they go?

Canberra has consistently ruled out transferring the men to Australia, arguing it would encourage human trafficking and lead to deaths at sea.

However, PNG has said it is Australia’s responsibility to provide ongoing support for the detainees. The Australian government says PNG is responsible for them.

The refugees can permanently resettle in PNG, apply to live in Cambodia, or request a transfer to Nauru, but advocates say few have taken up these options.

Some men already in the temporary accommodation were "comfortably accessing services and supports there", Australia's Department for Immigration and Border Protection said on Tuesday.


A separate resettlement deal struck with the Obama administration in 2016 saw the US agree to take up to 1,250 refugees from the PNG and Nauru centres.

Last month, a group of about 50 people from the detention centres became the first to be accepted by the US under the agreement.

The agreement, which is being administered under the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, is prioritising women, children and families and other refugees found to be the most vulnerable.

However, the US has not given an estimate of how long the application process will take and it is not obliged to accept all of them.

How will the closure affect detainees?

Greg Barns, a lawyer assisting with the legal action, said the closure would breach rights enshrined in PNG's constitution.

"The men are vulnerable to attacks and physical harm so we are seeking to ensure their constitutional rights are not breached and there is a resumption of the basic necessities of life," he told the BBC.

"The men have been dumped on the street, literally. What is going on is unlawful."
The application also seeks to prevent the forcible removal of the men to an alternative centre on the island, and calls for them to be transferred to Australia or a safe third country.

'Australia's Guantanamo'

Australia first opened Manus Island centre in 2001. It was closed in 2008 and re-opened in 2012.

Six asylum seekers have died since 2013, including Iranian man Reza Barati who was murdered during a riot.

Earlier this year, the government offered compensation totalling A$70m (£41m; $53m) to asylum seekers and refugees detained on Manus Island who alleged they had suffered harm while there.

The lawsuit alleged that detainees had been housed in inhumane conditions below Australian standards, given inadequate medical treatment and exposed to systemic abuse and violence.

The government called the financial settlement "prudent", but denied wrongdoing.

Response

Audience:
I think that the Intended Audience for this article are the People living on the Island and in Australia because it does affect them more. Also, the author does not give much backup information about this topic, there are not many details that describe the conflict. I also think that this article is written more for adults such as young adults and middle-aged people with education (but not necessarily college and further) since the vocab is not too hard but those would be the people who would care about this the most.

Author Bias:
The author does not seem to have a very strong bias on this topic since there are not many strong emotional words used throughout this article. But the type of information that is included in this articles shows that the author seems to be siding more with the Refugees since most of the claims come from them and none from the opposing citizens of Manus Island.

Personal Bias:
I personally don’t fully understand the struggle that is going on at this refugee camp. What I got from it was that the refugees were helped but then left up to themselves again, without supplies of food, water or electricity. They have been given opportunity to go out into the community but are afraid. I think that there probably is a reason why they are scared and that the locals don’t seem to be treating them nicely. I think that is what the author wanted to accomplish with this article.

Personal Opinion:
I think that the author wants to make the readers think about the refugees with more sympathy and not look down on them. The author brings up quotes from the refugees and shares them, letting the people speak for themselves. These quotes show how the refugees are struggling. I have been at a refugee camp before and really did not like it, though I knew that the people were safe they still had many struggles. And with people coming from far away it does seem like it is harder because first they lost a lot and then they are not even accepted in the place of safety. That would make me sad and very unsure and the refugees probably feel that way or similarly.


Citation: BBC Staff. “Manus Island: Refugees Refuse to Leave Australia Centre.” BBC News, BBC, 31 Oct. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41812189.