Australia to close Manus Island asylum centre

Australia and Papua New Guinea have agreed to close the Manus Island detention centre.

Papua New Guinea (PNG)’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said in a statement he had met Australia's immigration minister, Peter Dutton, in Port Moresby on Wednesday and that officials from both countries were making progress on how to close the centre. He offered no detail on the future for the 854 men held there.

“Both Papua New Guinea and Australia are in agreement that the centre is to be closed,” O’Neill said in a statement.

O’Neill offered no time frame on the closure and said the process should not be rushed.

 “A series of options are being advanced and implemented. This must take into account the interests of the people of Papua New Guinea and the wellbeing of asylum seekers and refugees.”

The future of the Manus detention has been in doubt since the PNG supreme court ruled in April that the detention centre was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

Following that decision, superficial changes were made to the detention regimen, the Guardian reports, but the men continued to live in the same compounds, behind steel fences, and are not free to leave if and when they choose.

A second court challenge to the detention regime – arguing that the detention centre breaches PNG’s constitutional guarantee to liberty – is set to go before the bench of the same court next week, and a judgement is expected quickly.

O’Neill said yesterday he would uphold the initial court ruling.

“The supreme court has delivered its ruling and our government is complying with this decision. I look forward to further updates as the process of closing the centre moves forward.”

The Manus Island detention centre has reportedly seen trouble since being re-opened in 2012.

In 2014, three days of unrest and an invasion of the detention centre by PNG police and others saw more than 60 asylum seekers seriously injured. One man was shot, another had his throat slit and 23-year-old Reza Barati was murdered by guards who beat him with a nail studded piece of wood, kicked and dropped a rock on his head.

PNG’s supreme court heard up to 15 expatriate and local guards killed Barati. Two local men were convicted of his murder this year.

The detention centre has also faced consistent allegations of abuse ranging from rape, physical and sexual assault, and drug abuse. Media sources also report that the centre’s water supply has failed, and detainees are fed expired food.