A Supreme
Court ruling means an Australian-run refugee detention facility on Papua New
Guinea is illegal and must close. Now PNG is working with Australia to find a
new place for the refugees to go.
Deutsche Welle, 27 April 2016
The island
nation of Papua New Guinea has announced it will close a center for asylum
seekers it had been hosting on behalf of Australia. This comes a day after the
Supreme Court in Papa New Guinea deemed it was unconstitutional to allow Australia to detain asylum seekers on the country's Manus Island.
"Respecting
this ruling, Papua New Guinea will immediately ask the Australian government to
make alternative arrangements for the asylum-seekers currently held at the
regional processing center," Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said in a
statement on Wednesday.
No
exceptions
Australian
policy regarding those who attempt to enter the country illegally by boat is to
reject them and send them to detention camps, paid for by the Australian
government, in Papua New Guinea and the island nation of Nauru. Those found to
have legitimate claims for asylum can be resettled in Papua New Guinea or
Cambodia under agreements reached between Australia and those two countries.
Regarding
the current asylum seekers on Manus Island, O'Neill said that legitimate
refugees were welcome to live in Papua New Guinea "only if they want to be
a part of our society and make a contribution to our community," but
added: "It is clear that several of these refugees do not want to settle
in Papua New Guinea and that is their decision."
There are
currently over 800 asylum seekers being held on Manus Island, and Papua New
Guinea will now being working with Australian officials about where to relocate
the people being detained. Australia has made it clear that under no
circumstances will they be resettled in Australia.
Self-immolation
Meanwhile,
a 23-year-old refugee in an Australian-run detention facility on Nauru is set
to be airlifted to an Australian hospital after setting himself on fire Tuesday
during a routine visit of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, to the facility.
According
to news reports, the man shouted "I can not take this any more"
before setting himself on fire. Bystanders quickly attempted to douse the
flames with water and blankets.
The man is
in critical condition, but Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has
said his application for asylum would not be influenced.
mz/kms (Reuters, AFP, AP)
mz/kms (Reuters, AFP, AP)
Australia doctors demand children be freed from #immigration detention http://t.co/oSHkZyvn5V pic.twitter.com/s9yLBKHA2Z— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 12, 2015
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