More than 50 men, including Benham Satah, who witnessed murder of Reza Barati, have been held for two months

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

Asylum seekers who have been approved for medevac transfers to Australia are among 52 men who have been locked up in Port Moresby detention without access to phones or lawyers for the past two months.

Among those detained is Benham Satah, the Kurdish Iranian man who witnessed the murder of Reza Barati in 2014, and who was allegedly about to be transferred to Australia for care.

Two months ago Papua New Guinean authorities arrested dozens of men who had been sent by Australia for refugee detention and processing, and confiscated phones and medication.

They were taken to Bomana immigration detention centre, which is annexed to a prison facility in Port Moresby.

The vast majority of those in Bomana are Iranian, and more than half are at some point along in the medevac process, having applied for it; been approved or refused; or were seeking reevaluation.

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The Australian government has confirmed that approvals for medevacs have been “communicated” to Port Moresby, but said the management of detainees inside Bomana is a matter for the PNG government.

PNG’s chief immigration officer did not respond to questions.

The continued lack of transparency and communication has caused alarm among the men’s families overseas, who have sought each other out for support and information.

Guardian Australia has been told Satah was approved and was due to be flown to Australia just days before he was arrested, and his family are now scrambling for information.

“We have been waiting for about seven years to hear good news about Benham and now we have not talked with him for more than a month,” Satah’s brother Omid told Guardian Australia.

“We are extremely concerned about his situation because he is sick and needs medical treatment. He was approved under medevac and was very hopeful to get off of that place after seven years but unfortunately he ended up in another prison.

“We want to ask everyone who are able to help do your best to help Benham and other people in that prison. We only need help.”

Satah is a high-profile member of the cohort sent offshore by Australia’s governments, and was a key witness in the trial of two men charged with murdering his friend and fellow detainee, Reza Barati in 2014. Satah later said he feared he would be killed for having spoken out.

Guardian Australia last met Satah in Port Moresby in July, where he was housed at the Citi Boutique hotel. At that particular accommodation, the men were only allowed out for two hours every second day – far more restrictive than other places where men had much longer – or no – curfews.

Satah, who is in his late 20s, says he has spent what should be “the best years of my life” in some form of PNG/Australian detention.

His mental health has deteriorated , and he suggested someone should film his daily medication routine, which would “kill an elephant”.

Satah was one of the first men transferred to Bomana, evidently despite his pending transfer to Australia for treatment.

“Absolutely no one who has been approved for medical transfer has been medically transferred from Bomana,” the chief executive of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Kon Karapanagiotides said.

“There’s no way any of these men are getting their medical needs met. It’s just intolerable.”

“Medevac is for anyone who is in PNG or Nauru for asylum precessing, regardless of their refugee status. It’s not a refugee pathway.”

The Bomana facility was funded by Australia with about $22m, and there have been concerns over the tender process which led to an Australian company, Controlled Outcomes winning the contract.

The company is a joint venture between PNG company Tactical Solutions International and an Australian security company, C5, owned by former federal police officer Tyson Clark.

Both the Australian and PNG governments have said the contracts are a matter for the other. Australia’s contract procurement for offshore processing is currently under inquiry by the national audit office.

All 52 of the detained men been deemed not to be refugees, however at least 20 have never been properly assessed. Having refused to take part in the process in the first years of offshore processing, many are now asking to have their protection claims heard.

Advocates, lawyers, and doctors have expressed increasing concern in recent weeks over the lack of information about the men held in Bomana, including their health.

A number are understood to have been taken to hospital at various times, including for acts of self harm.

One of the men, Shamindan Kanapadhi, said they were told two weeks ago they could visit Bomana and were given request forms.

“I made the request but then they said we can’t visit them, there was some problem. PNG immigration had stopped for a while the guys going to Bomana to visit. We don’t know what’s happening with that.”

A Senate inquiry has previously heard that blocked transfers highlighted a “sovereignty point” which complicated the medical evacuations process. The Nauru government has become notorious for blocking medical transfers, including when ordered by an Australian court.