Prime Minister Tony Abbott also commented on the resettlement issue on Monday, saying his understanding was that ''no such information'' was given to people. Mr Morrison's statement made no mention of escaped detainees, but a PNG MP on Monday scotched reports of a breakout. ''It is reported that Papua New Guinea police have arrested a number of transferees in relation to the incident,'' the statement said. He said there were some injuries to detainees and some ''minor property damage to the centre'', but said staff were safe and the centre was now ''calm''. Mr Morrison later told Fairfax Radio the incident ran for about an hour and quarter.

''I understand that last night there were 35 transferees who, following a meeting with some of the local centre staff about a range of issues, took down a section of fence and they absconded from the centre,'' he said. He said the people were quickly located and some 19 transferees went to the centre's clinic for medical attention, ''none of which was involving any sort of life threatening or serious conditions of that nature'' and eight were arrested. Lorengau hospital chief executive Dr Otto Numan said his staff were on alert last night after hearing about the fight between asylum seekers and guards. ''We were on stand-by, just in case,'' he said. ''But from last night to this morning, there have been no reports out about injuries.'' He confirmed that he would be notified only if the injuries couldn't be treated on the base.

Mr Abbott told ABC Radio on Monday that the ''only way to avoid this kind of thing is to stop the boats''. He added that everything that had been agreed to in the former Labor government's deal with PNG applied to the Coalition government, including resettlement in the country. ''And the other thing I've got to say is: if you don't want to be in immigration detention, don’t come illegally to Australia,'' he said. ''It is impossible not to feel sorry for people who want a better life and are living in a horrible country and I guess its good they think Australia is a beacon. We are a beacon of decency and generosity but we cannot allow people to take advantage of our generosity in this way.'' A local PNG MP said seven asylum seekers had been arrested after a fight at the Manus Island centre.

Ron Knight said the arrests followed a fight that broke out on Sunday night. He said he had been informed by PNG immigration that reports of a breakout were false. ''There was a fight late yesterday afternoon amongst themselves. They have been arrested and will face court this week,'' he said. Adelaide man Murtaza Ghulam said on Sunday that his brother, a Pakistani asylum seeker who was in the first group sent to the island in 2013, had phoned him amid the chaos. ''Everyone is fighting and there is a lot of people injured. He told me a lot of people are injured and hurt,'' he said.

''He just called me for five or six seconds at 10 o'clock.'' He said that asylum seekers were clashing with police and several had escaped. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said on Sunday that reports indicated that the riot squad was called in before a perimeter fence was breached. ''Protests have been building all day but escalated after a meeting was held to answer asylum seekers' questions about resettlement. ''Shockingly, the asylum seekers were told that they will not be resettled in PNG and if they wanted to go somewhere else, they will need to arrange that themselves.''

There are about 1300 asylum seekers on the island. Loading with Matthew Knott and AAP Follow us on Twitter