Human rights crisis on Manus Island
Posted on: Wed 1 Nov 2017
Australia’s offshore immigration detention camp on Manus Island has been closed with all water, food and electricity cut off to all refugees still in the centre.
Residents have been given three options: transferring to Australia’s other off shore processing centre in Nauru, to return to their countries of origin or to seek more permanent refugee settlement in Papua New Guinea or a third country like Cambodia.
Dr Amy Maguire, Senior Lecturer in International Law and Human Rights at the University of Newcastle, “it’s clear that for the more than 700 people involved, none of these proposed solutions are safe.”
As a result, hundreds are refusing to leave, “they are staying in the centre in protest…they are very concerned that they cold be attacked, injured or killed if they move into the community,” says Dr Maguire.
The closure of the controversial Papua New Guinea based centre was ruled in April 2016 as a result of unconstitutional arrangements between Papua New Guinea and Australia. The Supreme court ruled that the centre infringes the human rights liberty of the detainees and the Papua New Guinea constitution prevents the government from facilitating that.
Dr Amy Maguire joins Breakfast Producer, Kvitka Becker to discuss.
Produced by Kvitka Becker
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
