Australia/PNG: Refugees Face Unchecked Violence | WPN World People News

Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) have failed to protect the well-being of hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers sent to Manus Island under Australia’s mandatory offshore processing policy, Human Rights Watch said on Oct 25. About 770 men remain stuck in PNG, where many have suffered assaults and robberies and received inadequate health care, according to new interviews by Human Rights Watch.

The Australian and PNG governments’ proposal to close the regional processing center (the “main center”) on Manus Island by October 31, 2017, and transfer or settle those living there elsewhere in PNG will further endanger their safety and health. Australia should instead admit and integrate those found to be refugees, fairly process those with pending asylum claims, and reassess the claims of failed asylum seekers before forcibly returning them to their home countries, Human Rights Watch said.

“While the October 31 deadline looms, refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island have been getting stabbed, beaten, and robbed,” said Elaine Pearson, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. “The tragic irony is that moving these men from their squalid, guarded center and settling them elsewhere in PNG will actually put them at greater danger. The Australian government should instead genuinely protect them by transferring them to Australia.”

Since 2013, Australia has sent asylum seekers who try to reach the country by boat to cramped and dirty offshore processing centers in PNG and Nauru. Male asylum seekers have been transferred to PNG’s Manus Island, while men, women, and children have gone to Nauru. Under a regional resettlement arrangement, those sent to Manus who are recognized as refugees are to be settled in other parts of PNG.

Australia’s policy of warehousing asylum seekers in PNG in harsh and dangerous conditions has been cited approvingly by European ultranationalist politicians as a way to deter boat migrants.

“The so-called ‘Australian model’ of dealing with refugees and asylum seekers ‎is no model to follow in Europe or anywhere else – the system has led to misery, suffering, and even suicide,” Pearson said.

Under the Australian government’s new plan to close the main center, refugees will be moved to a transit facility or other housing on Manus Island, settled elsewhere in PNG, or be resettled to the Pacific island nation of Nauru or the United States. Failed asylum seekers will be returned to their home countries or moved to another facility on Manus Island.

Of the 770 men, about 600 currently live on Manus Island at the Australian-government funded main center and 65 live at a transit center. Residents may leave the main center by bus, but it is a guarded facility 30 minutes’ drive to Lorengau town, on the largely off-limits PNG Lombrum naval base. Another 35 or so have signed settlement papers to remain in PNG, although only about four of these are working and financially independent. Authorities have temporarily transferred about 70 men to a motel in Port Moresby, PNG’s capital, for medical treatment; it is unclear if they will be returned to Manus Island after October 31.

A Human Rights Watch team visited Manus Island and Port Moresby in September 2017 and interviewed 40 refugees and asylum seekers (including asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected) from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. The team also interviewed several former and current service providers on the island and PNG government officials.

Human Rights Watch found that groups of local young men, often intoxicated and sometimes armed with sticks, rocks, knives, or screwdrivers, have frequently assaulted and robbed refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island. In at least three serious attacks since June, victims required emergency medical attention in Port Moresby or Australia.

Many refugees and asylum seekers now refuse to leave the centers out of fear for their safety, or only leave for brief periods traveling in groups. They told Human Rights Watch that local police and PNG and Australian authorities have made little effort to prevent crimes or investigate attacks against them.

A Rohingya refugee said, “If you go to the police station they don’t do a proper investigation so we don’t bother to go to the station. Because we have had bad experiences on Manus. I have been scared since I have been here.”

Those living in the main center have had access to a medical clinic and, with difficulty, transportation to Port Moresby or occasionally Australia for serious medical problems. Several refugees who recently suffered knife attacks sought treatment at a local hospital, but said that hospital staff were unable to treat them.

Refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island do not receive adequate access to mental health services, and this will worsen with the withdrawal of Australian service providers, Human Rights Watch said. Without adequate support, long periods of detention, uncertainty, and exposure to violence have had a devastating impact on their mental well-being. Medical experts from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have said the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers and refugees in PNG and Nauru had no pre-existing mental health conditions prior to their detention on Manus, even though a considerable proportion had been exposed to trauma in their home countries.

Australian authorities transferred a refugee with a mental health condition to a psychiatric facility in Port Moresby, where he said staff beat him and detained him for about three weeks in dirty and crowded conditions. Two refugees with histories of mental health conditions reportedly committed suicide on Manus in separate incidents in 2017.

“Australia sent refugees and asylum seekers to Manus who may have faced trauma at home but were otherwise healthy,” Pearson said. “Four years later, a significant number are killing themselves and self-harming.”

A PNG official familiar with the situation on Manus described the settlement of refugees in PNG as a “failure.” The US government decision to accept 24 Manus Island refugees under an Australian-US resettlement deal does not excuse the Australian government for its unwillingness to admit any of these refugees to Australia, Human Rights Watch said.

So long as refugees and asylum seekers remain on Manus Island, Australia and PNG should consider deploying Australian federal police in an advisory role with Manus local police to help prevent crimes and ensure that crimes committed are fully investigated. Australia should also ensure that they all receive access to adequate medical and mental health care.

The asylum seekers sent to Manus were all initially detained at the main center. Since January 2015, PNG and Australian authorities have transferred approximately 100 men found to be refugees to a transit center in Lorengau town. The governments have tried to convince more refugees to go to the transit center, but most refuse claiming they do not feel safe there and do not want to settle in PNG.

“The four-year Australian government human experiment on Manus Island has been disastrous for the safety and well-being of the asylum seekers sent there,” Pearson said. “It’s hard to believe the situation could get worse, but the proposed shutdown of the main facility would expose the refugees and asylum seekers to even greater harm.”

Source:Human Rights Watch