Papua New Guinea immigration officials have told refugees that the first compound will be closed by 28 May

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The closure of the Manus Island immigration detention centre has begun, detainees on the island have been told, with demolition of the first compounds to start this month.

On Monday a Papua New Guinea immigration official told detainees to “consider your options” as migration and police officers had already commenced the shutdown process. The centre will be completely shut down, and all detainees removed, by 31 October.

“Foxtrot will be first compound to close, starting with M Block on 28 May. You cannot stay at the regional processing centre,” the official said in a recording obtained by Guardian Australia.

“You need to consider your options. No-one will be resettled in Australia.”

Refugees and non-refugees will be separated.

“Refugees can move to accommodation in PNG community or temporarily relocate to East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre, or return home voluntarily with reintegration assistance, or move to third country where you have a right to reside.

“Non-refugees can return home voluntarily with reintegration assistance or be removed by PNG by government of Papua New Guinea without any reintegration assistance. Non-refugees have no other options.”



About 700 of the 800 men have been formally recognised as refugees. The remainder have either had their claims denied or are still being assessed or appealled.

Australia will not assist with voluntary returns beyond August 30. Currently, Australia is offering up to $20,000 to refugees and asylum seekers to abandon their protection claims and return home.

The US deal – for an as-yet-unknown number of refugees to be resettled in America - will continue the official said. Interviews with the departments of homeland and state would take place elsewhere in PNG, after the detention centre was closed.

Extra police have been deployed to the Manus detention centre – following a shooting rampage by drunken soldiers on Good Friday – and in expectation of resistance to the forced move from the centre. But the official’s message on Monday carried a thinly-veiled threat about opposing being moved from the detention centre.

“Remember that resettlement countries always consider a person’s history of behaviour before reconsidering them for resettlement including both good and bad behaviour.”

“Disruptive or illegal behaviour could exclude you from resettlement.”

Australian government downplayed risk of shots fired on Manus Island, analysis shows Read more





The official told the detainees the closing of the RPC would not alter their refugee status, and told them to “make decisions about your future”.

“Once closed the electricity will be turned off and your buildings will be relocated. The area will be locked and nobody will be permitted to enter,” he said. “Everyone will need to move out of RPC [regional processing centre] before it shuts down. Do not leave it too late to make a decision.”

“You have an opportunity to get on with your life.”

Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani said refugees in detention did not feel safe being moved into Lorengau township and would resist the move.

He said Australia continued to violate human rights and break international law by putting people requiring protection into dangerous situations.

“The Australian government wants to implement this policy in spite of the serious resistance from local people who are strongly against the decision to take more people into their community.

Ronnie Knight, the Manusian MP, has already warned both the Australian and PNG governments that local people won’t accept this decision.

In addition, the refugees are asking for freedom in a safe place, and it seems the Australian government is trying to trick people for political reasons, telling them... they will close the prison and it will not be true. They cannot solve the problem by sending people to Lorengau town.”

Boochani said refugees were losing faith in the purported “US deal” to resettle an as-yet-unknown number of refugees in America.

“The refugees in the centre are extremely scared of being sent by force to Lorengau. People think that if they send them it means they will be forced to settle there forever or for a long time. Australia is using the US deal as a cover to settle people in PNG.”

He said he expected police and Australian Border Force officials to threaten force against those resisting any move.

“There is not any law for protecting the refugees and there is not any justice.”

During a visit to the detention centre last week, Australian Border Force deputy commissioner Mandy Newton said extra police were being deployed to the centre to prevent unrest and violence during the relocation.

“Because we don’t want any trouble to occur, we don’t want any rioting to occur. We want to consult with the people in the centre – which we have been doing now for some years – but it’s important also that people know they can’t behave inappropriately, either in the community or within the centre.”

The Greens senator Nick McKim said the Australian government had to bring the detainees to Australia.

“PNG does not have the resources to care for or resettle the men,” he said. “After four years of hell overseen by the Australian government, these men have now been given two weeks to make an impossible choice.

“This represents a shocking abrogation of our legal and moral responsibility for people who have reached out a hand and sought our assistance. The walls of the detention centre were the only thing between asylum seekers and heavy gunfire last month – now Peter Dutton wants to knock down the walls.”

McKim travelled to Manus Island earlier this month but was denied entry to the centre, which he described as “disappointing and frustrating”.

In April last year the PNG supreme court ruled the centre to be unconstitutional and the detention of asylum seekers illegal. Despite the order to close the centre, the timeline has been vague and littered with confusion, including a PNG chief justice declaring it already closed in March.

In February an Australian government official said the centre would be closed by the end of this year.

Since the supreme court ruling, some freedoms were granted to the detainees following the supreme court ruling, including the ability travel into the nearby town, but they remain in the same accommodation compounds, inside a restricted naval base.

Last month detainees and staff cowered in rooms and fled into nearby jungle after Navy soldiers opened fire on the centre, injuring two people.

The shooting occurred after a conflict on a football field between detainees and soldiers escalated.

The Australian immigration minister has since repeatedly sought to connect the shooting to alleged community fears about detainees allegedly leading a young boy through the centre, but every authority on the island, as well as locals and detainees, have refuted his accusation.

• A previous version of this story incorrectly said the shutdown of all facilities on Manus would be completed by 30 June. In fact, some parts will remain open until 31 October.