Russell Crowe offers to give jobs and shelter to six Manus Island asylum-seekers

ACTOR Russell Crowe has thrust himself onto centre stage in the nation’s immigration debate — offering to provide homes and jobs for six Manus Island asylum-seekers.

• Island riot fears as detainees arm themselves with knives

ACTOR Russell Crowe has thrust himself on to centre stage in the nation’s immigration debate — offering to provide homes and jobs for six Manus Island asylum-seekers.

Crowe appealed yesterday to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to let him intervene in a growing asylum-seeker crisis prompted by the closure of the controversial detention facility.

He said he had “reached out to the Prime Minister asking if there’s a way ordinary Australians like me can help him simplify this mess” hours after he took to social media to slam the situation a “nation’s shame” and a “f...ing disgrace”.

I've thought about this . I believe I could house and find jobs for 6. I'm sure there'd be other Australians who would do the same

— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) November 1, 2017

The Oscar-winning Gladiator star is offering asylum seekers housing and work, manual labour at first, for two years before helping them “in their own ambitions”.

► DAILY TELEGRAPH EDITORIAL: RUSTY’S OFFER MAY HAVE A SNAG

“This is a bespoke offer, based on the individuals, not a cookie-cutter approach. I understand it could get complex, so that’s why I suggested six, not 60,” Crowe said.

Russell Crowe’s heartfelt tweet.

“I think I have the time and resources to do a good job for six.

“I understand there’s a thousand problems out there in the world, but we created this one, we should do the right thing, purely from a humanitarian perspective, and fix it.”

Maximus impact with a tweet. Russell Crowe, famous for his role in 2000’s Gladiator, offered a 140-character solution for the refugee crisis on Manus Island

Former detainees at the processing centre are refusing to move to new accommodation, claiming that they fear for their safety, and ­applying to the PNG ­Supreme Court to force the PNG government to re-establish essential services.

Official statistics provided to The Daily Telegraph by the federal government show there are 584 people remaining in the Manus Regional Processing Centre, with 79 refugees moving to the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre where they have medical care and an allowance.

Those waiting at the transit centre can apply for resettlement to the United States or Papua New Guinea, or can move to Nauru.

There are also 34 asylum seekers living in the community and one person found not to be a legitimate refugee living in accommodation at Hillside Haus, while 597 have returned to their home country.