Abdul Aziz Adam, 24, from Sudan, has been on Manus Island for nearly four years. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Adam, 24, told Fairfax Media everyone lived in fear of locals who made it clear the refugees weren't welcome. He said the small number of men who risked going into the main town of Lorengau were targeted almost daily. "We are harassed on the road and robbed on the road," he says. "We have put in more than 1000 complaints but we received no feedback. They haven't taken a single step to solving the problem. Police say they can't do anything. They say 'we don't want you to come to our community'." Adam said he mostly worried about what would happen after October 31, given how strained relations were already. He said he had given up dreaming of being settled somewhere safe. According to Adam, at least nine people have been attacked with machetes or bashed in recent weeks, while countless more have been robbed of money and phones. It is believed one man was bashed so severely last Monday that he had to be flown to Australia to be treated for head injuries.

A protest for water and power at the detention centre on Manus Island. Credit:Abdul Aziz Adam Earlier this month, refugee Hamed Shamshiripour​, a 31-year-old Iranian national, was found dead at a school in East Lorengau. His death has been ruled as suicide. But some refugees believe he was murdered. He had been known to clash with locals. A photo seen by Fairfax Media appears to show injuries to his face and head. "We are trying to tell them it is not safe," Adam says. "We don't wish to settle in PNG. They don't want to tell us what is happening. They are just saying 'get out of this place, we want to close the door'." A protest for water and power at the detention centre on Manus Island. Credit:Abdul Aziz Adam Manus Province police commander David Yapu​ said the situation was not as dire as refugees claimed.

"The locals are so friendly. I see no problem," he says. "Those incidents that happened, they happened at night. At odd hours. During the day we see refugees walking [safely]." Hamed Shamshiripour died on Manus Island. Commander Yapu said Mr Shamshiripour's death was not being treated as suspicious. "There were no injuries on his body," he says. When asked about preparations for the end of Australia's involvement on Manus, Yapu said he could not comment. "After October 31, the next move is still uncertain," he says. From November 1 the men with refugee status will need to find employment to support themselves – in a country with notoriously high unemployment – and access the already over-burdened public health system. They will hope for resettlement in the US or another country, but no one knows when, or if, that will happen.

The asylum seekers who have not been granted refugee status will be expected to take the $20,000 offered by Australia and return to their home countries. Those who refuse face deportation. Refugees on Manus fear there will be limited access to health and psychiatric care, no education programs or employment services. There will be just 300 beds, even after renovations are complete, at the Australian-built East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre where the men are being taken to live in dormitories. Laloki Hospital psychiatrist Ludwig Nanawar​ has been working with refugees and is worried there is no proper plan for the closure. He said that without Australia's support the refugees would be left languishing. "It will have far-reaching implications – not just for health," Dr Nanawar says. "Jobs are limited. They are going to be homeless and won't have access to health services. I see a lot of them being unemployed and sleeping on the streets ... There will be all kinds of social problems." Adam says a host of services have already been cut, including dental care, optometry, and English classes.

The centre itself is being decommissioned, with the power and water cut off at Foxtrot compound nearly two weeks ago in a bid to force the residents to move into the transit centre. It has been reported that a notice at the detention centre warns refugees that if they do not move to East Lorengau their behaviour will be reported and their chances of being accepted by the US hampered. Residents at the centre have been protesting the treatment of the men in the Foxtrot compound, who rely on other compounds for fresh water. It is believed there are about 65 men living in East Lorengau, while about 30 refugees are in Port Moresby. The rest are still living in the detention centre. It is also believed there have been more than 30 medical transfers to the capital in recent days, with a further 30 planned for next week, and Adam said he was unsure if those people would be returning to Manus. Adam said no one wanted to move to the transit centre because they were scared. He said the locals wanted them off the island.

"Ever since we were exiled to this island we have been mis-introduced," Adam says. "They say we are criminals, terrorists and very dangerous people. That was our first introduction." He said briefings by Australian Immigration Department representatives were designed to instil distrust and fear in order to keep the two groups apart. "They tell us [the locals] have contagious diseases and not to shake hands with them. 'You guys should stay away from them.' They tell us they are cannibals ... "When we arrived we were so scared and intimidated. They created distrust between us and them. They think we are bad people; we think they are sick people. It's really terrifying." Under the regional resettlement arrangement, signed by former prime minister Kevin Rudd and PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill​ in 2013, both governments are expected to protect the welfare and safety of anyone transferred as a priority.

Greens senator and immigration spokesman Nick McKim​ said he understood why the detainees were terrified of living in the community. "It is not safe," he says. "There have been a number of attacks recently. If they can't go out of the [transit] centre safely then it's basically a prison. "There is never an excuse for violence, but the people of Lorengau have been treated with contempt. They were not asked; they were not consulted by their government prior to the detention centre being established." Lorengau has a population of about 4000 and McKim said an additional 800 people would be a huge challenge for any community. A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said all issues should be raised with the Papua New Guinea government.

"These are matters for the PNG government and the PNG police," she says. "The Australian government provides significant financial support to PNG to provide services. "This government didn't put people on Manus Island, but we are committed to cleaning up Labor's mess. Under the agreement signed by Kevin Rudd, there was no arrangement for people to leave Manus Island. This government has brokered an arrangement with the US to take a considerable number of people from Manus." But phone transcripts leaked earlier this month of a conversation between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and US President Donald Trump have raised questions about the strength of that agreement, with Turnbull encouraging the US to simply submit to the selection process, irrespective of how many refugees were actually selected for resettlement. In late July, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stepped up its fight with the Australian government, saying it had been speaking regularly with the Immigration Department about plans to exempt a small number of people with family ties in Australia. But Dutton rejected the claim, saying no one from offshore detention would be settled here. Opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann said the refugees should be settled elsewhere.

"Labor strongly supports the US refugee resettlement agreement and want refugees off Manus and Nauru and resettled in third countries as quickly as possible," he said in a statement. In the meantime, Abdul Aziz Adam just tries to pass the hours, no longer raising his hopes about a bright future. "I don't feel anything anymore. I'm just surviving," he says. Loading "It's a disaster but who is listening to us? No one.

"I feel like trash left in limbo."