Three men call on Australian Border Force to release CCTV footage which they say will exonerate them of allegations their assistance created ‘angst’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Three refugees who gave a hungry child fruit inside the Manus Island detention centre have hit back at suggestions of wrongdoing, lodging a formal complaint with the Australian Border Force over “false allegations”, along with a plea to release the CCTV footage which they say will exonerate them.

The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, said the men’s assistance of the boy inside the detention centre created “a lot of angst” on Manus, and alleged it was the trigger the Good Friday shooting rampage by Papua New Guinea defence force personnel on the centre, despite it occurring five days before the riot.

Police on Manus and the PNG defence force have repudiated the minister’s allegations, saying the rampage – which involved more than 100 shots being fired into the detention centre and a defence force vehicle ramming a gate – was sparked by a fight over a soccer pitch on Good Friday afternoon. The boy’s presence inside the centre was unrelated, police said, and attracted “no complaint”.

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The Guardian has confirmed with ABF staff that all three men who helped the boy have been recognised as refugees – that is they have a well-founded fear of persecution in their homeland and are legally owed protection.

The three men, who the Guardian has chosen not to name, have signed a handwritten statement detailing their interaction with the boy, all of which was done with the permission of detention centre security guards, and took place in public spaces, observed by CCTV cameras.

Dutton has reportedly viewed the CCTV footage, but has refused to release it publicly, saying it was confidential. However, reports of the footage’s content corroborate the men’s account.

Dutton, who is in the US, told 2GB radio on Thursday he stood by his account. “I was very clear in what I’ve said and I stand by it 100%. I haven’t deviated from it at all and I won’t because I know what I’ve said to be factually true. So that’s the reality.”

The men have lodged a formal complaint with Wilson Security, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, and PNG immigration authorities:

“We … have [a] complaint about false accusation which is made upon us by minister for immigration Peter Dutton.

“We helped a hungry and poor child who was requesting for food or money. He was fluent in English and begging for food.

“We had no money with us. We told him we have fruits inside the centre and he requested to come and get fruit.

“He walked with us through Gate 18 toward Oscar One (1). While passing Oscar main gate local security in the gate asked us ‘what is he doing here?’ We are responded (sic), ‘we are going to give fruit to him’ and we entered Oscar compound. Local security said ‘it’s okay.”

One of the men continues in the statement:

“I asked the boy to sit on a chair outside Oscar One, 1, and I went inside to get fruits for him, couple others also gave him fruits, biscuits, etc. It was couple plastic bags of fruit. Security came and escorted the boy outside the centre.

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“All of these incidents is recorded by your CCTV cameras. We are requesting for the immediate release of the footage of this incident. We didn’t do any wrong except helping a poor boy. We need investigation ASAP.”

Dutton said the incident led to heightened tensions between Manusians and the refugee population on Manus Island. This has been contradicted by the PNG police and defence forces who say it is unrelated.

PNG police said in a statement that “a group of drunken soldiers” had “rampaged” through the detention centre, “firing several shots into the air and indiscriminately assaulting policemen, PNG immigration officers, other service providers and asylum seekers”.

A statement from the PNG defence force alleged an officer was assaulted by an asylum seeker “which led to an escalation of the confrontation”.

“Rocks were allegedly thrown by asylum seekers and shots fired by the members of the naval base,” the statement read.

“[A] few people [were] treated for minor injuries.”

The Manus provincial police commander David Yapu said no one from the minister’s office had called him to ask him about the incident, or whether police were investigating the boy’s presence in the centre. He said police were not investigating.

Dutton has reportedly seen the CCTV footage, but has refused to release it publicly, saying it was confidential. He told the ABC “I have facts you don’t have,” but did not elaborate on what they were.

News Corp Australia and Sky News commentator Andrew Bolt reported he has been briefed on the footage. His account of what it shows accords with the men’s version of events.

Requests from the Guardian for access to the CCTV footage have not been granted, as have requests to interview the Australian Border Force commissioner, Roman Quaedvlieg. The ABF has ultimate authority over the Manus Island detention centre.

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Tensions between refugees and Manusians on the island have been significantly raised since the partial opening of the detention centre. This followed a ruling by the PNG supreme court a year ago that the detention centre’s operation was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

Refugees are not free to leave the detention centre of their own volition, but can take scheduled buses to Lorengau township. They cannot leave Manus, and the detention centre, still behind three-metre steel fences, remains a secure area.

But the increased interaction has led to hostility. Two refugees have been charged with sexual assault – one of a local woman and another of an underage girl. Both deny the charges. Several refugees have also been attacked by locals, including two refugees who were assaulted by a large group of Manusians, who hit them repeatedly with an iron bar.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An injured Afghan refugee from the Manus Island detention centre is carried into the back of a vehicle after he was allegedly attacked by a group of Papua New Guinean men with an iron bar while out on day release on 15 August 2016. Photograph: Matthew Abbott/AFP/Getty Images

The Manus MP Ronny Knight, who was disqualified from holding his seat before being reinstated by the supreme court this week, has consistently warned of potential violence between Manusians and refugees.

The PNG government has given the Australian government until 31 October to close the detention centre. The US has said it will uphold an agreement to resettle up to 1,250 refugees from Australia’s offshore detention islands, but the Australian government concedes a “balance” will be left on Manus Island and Nauru.