Manus refugees

The application in the Supreme Court which seeks prevention orders against their transfer to other facilities, will be heard next week Monday.

The application for Enforcement of Constitutional rights has been fixed before Chief Justice, Sir Salamo Injia, at 11am on Monday, November 6.
 

It has been three days since Australian authorities walked out of the former detention center, leaving the transferees without food, electricity and running water.

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

The Manus center is due to close next week. Australia has set up alternative accommodation in a nearby town.

A Human Rights Watch report said asylum seekers risked suffering "unchecked violence" in PNG after the closure.

The group, which visited the island in September, said refugees and asylum seekers had been attacked by local men "sometimes armed with sticks, rocks, knives, or screwdrivers".

Commissioner of Police Gari Baki says although the police manpower is outnumbered by the 718 refugees now on the island, a smooth transfer is expected to take place on Monday, October 31.

Police say there is a small disgruntled faction among the refugees at the Lombrum Navy Base who are creating uncertainty among the rest of the refugees.

“Extra manpower is on standby to be deployed to Manus Island to assist the local police in addition to the two Mobile Squad now on the Island,” says Baki in a statement.

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

The Manus centre is due to close next week. Australia has set up alternative accommodation in a nearby town.

A Human Rights Watch report said asylum seekers risked suffering "unchecked violence" in PNG after the closure.

The group, which visited the island in September, said refugees and asylum seekers had been attacked by local men "sometimes armed with sticks, rocks, knives, or screwdrivers".

The trial will see some of the transferees in Manus fly to Port Moresby to give evidence in court later this week.

This comes after an Australian court, early this month, approved a compensation payout of AUD$70 million; an amount set as Australia’s largest human rights settlement.

Over the weekend, the first 25 refugees who were screened in Manus were moved to the US for resettlement.

There are over 800 men in Manus. Some of those are in Port Moresby on medical grounds.

Manus MP Ronny Knight said this following the alleged sexual assault of a Grade Nine student in Manus last Tuesday at the Harbour side hotel.

The alleged perpetrator has been identified as asylum seeker Rajeev Rajendran, from Sri Lanka (31). He was arrested and charged over the weekend by police and appeared in court on Monday. 

Knight said this (sexual assault) is a result of nothing being done to move the asylum seekers and refugees to a country that will settle them.

“This is one case we have before the law. Many have been unreported,” Knight said.

The 31-year-old man from Sri Lanka (identity withheld) was arrested over the weekend by police at the Regional processing centre at Lombrum.

The alleged incident took place on Jan 17 at the Harbour side Hotel between 8.30am and 4.30pm.

Manus acting provincial police commander, senior inspector David Yapu, said the victim is 19-years-old (identity withheld.)

It is alleged the defendant booked a room at the hotel where he sexually assaulted the victim.

He has called on the Australian Government to return those allegedly involved in the rape of a local, for investigations.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over the weekend announced the one-off refugee resettlement deal between Australia and the US for people on Manus Island and Nauru to be moved to the United States.

Turnbull, alongside Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, over the weekend said the deal would only apply to those currently on Nauru and Manus Island.