Manus Island: last of asylum seekers removed from detention centre

PNG police say they have removed all the men who had been refusing to leave the regional processing centre on Manus Island.

An asylum-seeker, right, is apparently forcibly removed from the Manus Island regional refugee processing centre today. Picture: AFP

PNG police say they have removed all the men who have been refusing to leave the regional processing centre on Manus Island, with more than 300 forcibly moved to new facilities today.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has welcomed the news, accusing advocates in Australia of making “inaccurate and exaggerated claims of violence and injury” after PNG police, immigration and defence force personnel stormed the centre yesterday.

PNG Police Manus Province Commander David Yapu said the team had removed 332 men from the Delta and Oscar compounds at the regional processing centre today.

“Yesterday we manage to remove 56 refugees and non-refugees from Mike and Foxrot compound,” Mr Yapu said.

“The refugees packed up their cargoes, got into the bus and (were) transported to their new locations.”

Since the regional processing centre closed on October 31, the Australian government has provided accommodation for refugees at the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre and West Lorengau Haus, while non-refugees have been allocated Hillside Haus.

“The operation was conducted smoothly and orderly without use of force and our objective was achieved,” Mr Yapu said.

“We encountered some resistances upon our approach but manage to control the situation at a professional manner, otherwise situation could have turn nasty.

“The refugees and non refugees have settled at their new locations.”

Mr Yapu said the police had acted after the PNG government had ordered them to do so following a PNG Supreme Court decision to close the centre, because the PNG health authorities had condemned the centre as unhygienic and at risk of spreading diseases such as typhoid and cholera, and because the PNG defence force wanted its land back.

“By law the refugees were unlawfully settling on the military base,” Mr Yapu said.

He commended his team on a “job well done”.

Dutton welcomes news

Mr Dutton said the PNG government had made it clear since mid 2016 that the centre would close, and that information about the closure had been provided to the inhabitants on a weekly basis since May.

He said the new accommodation had been available to house all inhabitants since October 31.

“PNG continues to add capacity to West Lorengau Haus to cater for the return of those currently transferred to Port Moresby for medical treatment,” Mr Dutton said.

“Food services, cleaning, security and the ELRTC-medical clinic are all operational and have been available since October 31.

“Advocates in Australia are again today making inaccurate and exaggerated claims of violence and injuries on Manus, but fail to produce any evidence to prove these allegations.

“What is clear is that there has been an organised attempt to provoke trouble and disrupt the new facilities.”

Mr Dutton said the government had been advised that some equipment has been “sabotaged” at the alternative accommodation centres, including damage to backup generators.

“Vandalism has also occurred to water infrastructure,” he said.

“The equipment is being repaired or replaced and the government understands these matters are under investigation.

“Advocates should now desist from holding out false hope to these men that they will ever be brought to Australia.

“Instead advocates should now encourage them to engage with PNG authorities for resettlement either through the US resettlement process or in PNG and for non-refugees to accept assistance packages to return to their home country.”

Advocates release footage of alleged violence

Advocates this morning released footage which they said showed PNG police hitting and threatening refugees with long metal poles.

Iranian journalist and asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani tweeted that police had this morning “attacked the prison camp and the refugees are saying that they beat them”.

“The refugees are going to leave the prison camp. So many are in the buses and are on the way to the new camps,” Mr Boochani tweeted about 9am Australian time.

“Four buses are full and on way to the new camps. Three trucks are carrying people’s belongings. The refugees are saying that they are leaving the prison camp because police are using violence and very angry.”

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees said it had been given assurances that excessive force has not been used, but could not independently confirm whether that was the case because UNHCR staff had not been granted full access to the regional processing centre.

Manus ‘a reminder of Rudd legacy’

Malcolm Turnbull earlier said the tenth anniversary of the Rudd Labor government’s election was a reminder of what happens when politicians are “reckless about Australia’s security”, blaming Kevin Rudd for the stand-off with asylum seekers on Manus Island.

Mr Turnbull also targeted Labor’s candidate in the Bennelong by-election, Kristina Keneally, accusing her of advocating for bringing asylum seekers to Australia.

“When Kevin Rudd came into office in 2007, he unpicked John Howard’s strong border policy,” Mr Turnbull said.

“As we know there were 50,000 unauthorised arrivals and tragically 1200 deaths.

“Now remarkably Bill Shorten has chosen, as Labor’s candidate in Bennelong, Kristina Keneally who is a strong advocate for bringing asylum seekers from Manus Island to Australia.

“Kristina Keneally wants to send a signal to the people smugglers, ‘come on down’.”

Mr Turnbull said busloads of people were leaving the Manus processing centre and complying with the directions of the PNG authorities to move to the alternative facilities which Immigration Minister Peter Duttons says cost $11m to build.

“That is precisely what you should do if you are in a foreign country. You should comply with the laws of that other country,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Labor endorsing Kristina Keneally are endorsing a candidate who believes that people smugglers should get what they want.

“We know that they use statements by leading politicians in Australia as a marketing tool and they will be out there right now saying that Kristina Keneally has been picked by Bill Shorten.

“They will be saying that the Labor Party is now changing its policy, as they’ve done in the past, and they will be using that to get more people on the boat to try to test our will.”

‘Malcolm Turnbull’s obsessed with Kristina Keneally’

Mr Shorten said Mr Turnbull was “obsessed with Kristina Keneally”, because she represented “everything that he’s not”.

“She represents energy, dynamism. She’s talking about the issues that the people of Bennelong care about: health, TAFE, education, NBN,” Mr Shorten said, as he campaigned in Bennelong.

“I mean she’s in Bennelong. We haven’t seen Mr Turnbull. I think Mr Turnbull would be better advised getting that circus he calls a government into line.

“We’re seeing cabinet leaks, we’re seeing inquiries into cabinet leaks, we’re seeing him the last man standing on the banking royal commission opposing it.

“Mr Turnbull should focus on his day job and stop obsessing on Kristina Keneally.”

Challenged over an opinion article Ms Keneally wrote earlier this year calling for Australia to bring the refugees on Manus Island and Nauru to Australia, Mr Shorten said Ms Keneally had made it clear she supports Labor's policies.

‘Like the tenant that won’t leave’

Mr Dutton yesterday said the men on Manus were behaving “like the tenant that won’t move out of the house when you’ve built a new house for them to move into.”

“You’ve given them six months’ notice, which we’ve done up there,” he said.

“We’ve said this new facility’s available, we want you to move.

“The only difference between the two is that you’ve got to prepare your own meals with food provided at the new centre. They won’t get the a la carte service at the current centre.

“All the medicals provided for free. We’ve spent millions of dollars on the medical services up there.

“In the end as we’ve discussed before, the 50,000 people who arrived on 800 boats has cost the taxpayer so far $11bn.”

— With AAP