Fifty-eight men leave ‘hell that the Australian government made for us’ months after first group of 54 refugees sent to US

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The second group of refugees to be accepted for resettlement in the United States from Australia’s offshore immigration regime has left Papua New Guinea for America.

Fifty-eight refugees will fly from PNG on Tuesday – most after more than four years held on Manus Island. They will fly to the US east coast, from where they will be resettled, individually and in groups, across the country.

Last year, 54 refugees from Australia’s two offshore immigration islands, PNG’s Manus Island and the independent Pacific state of Nauru, were resettled in the US.

Australia built a hell for refugees on Manus. The shame will outlive us all | Richard Flanagan Read more

Another group of 130 refugees on Nauru has been accepted for resettlement and is expected to leave the island in the next days or weeks.

About 2,000 refugees and asylum seekers remain in Australia’s offshore system.

The controversial “US deal” – decried as “dumb” but upheld by the US president Donald Trump – was brokered by his predecessor Barack Obama and the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in September 2016.

In exchange for the US considering to resettle 1,250 refugees from Australia’s offshore camps, Australia has agreed to take refugees from US-run refugee camps in Costa Rica. Those refugees are from the violence-plagued northern triangle countries of central America: El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

So far, about 30 people have been resettled in Australia.

No Somalis or Iranians are included in the latest groups of refugees to be accepted for resettlement. Trump’s current “travel ban” executive order has banned these nationalities from travelling to America.

One refugee accepted for resettlement told the Refugee Action Coalition his departure for the US was a bittersweet moment.

“I am very happy to be free of the hell that the Australian government made for us on Manus. But we are sad for those who are still waiting so long. We can’t stop thinking of everyone who are still on Manus. We all need freedom.”

Natasha Blucher from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said 2,000 people, including 150 children, remained in offshore detention with no prospect of freedom.

“The US deal cannot be the only solution here. It is moving too slowly and people’s lives are being destroyed for every moment they are stuck in this crushing system,” Blucher said.

“We work with a huge number of people suffering from serious health issues, families who have been ripped apart, and people – including children – who have been living in mouldy tents on Nauru for over four years now.”

Blucher joined the petition signatories in demanding all of those held in offshore detention be brought to Australia immediately – a course of action the Turnbull government opposes.

Australia Associated Press contributed to this report