Syrian asylum seekers who opt to be sent home from Manus Island could be at risk after it emerged that Australia’s immigration department was in contact with the country’s consulate in Sydney about the detainees.

In a recording obtained by Guardian Australia, two immigration officers are heard telling a group of five Syrian asylum seekers on Manus – without the presence of a lawyer – that they will not be resettled in Australia, and asking them whether they would consider being voluntarily repatriated. The International Organisation for Migration does not facilitate repatriation to Syria, where civil war has raged for three years.



A female immigration officer is heard telling the asylum seekers that if they agree to return to Syria “we would be applying for a travel document in Australia at the Syrian embassy”.



In the recording, which Guardian Australia understands was made in the past two weeks, the officer is heard saying that Syrians have been repatriated before, but it would be up to the Syrian embassy to determine how long it would take for the travel documents to be issued.



“We actually have regularly returned people from Syria, so there is an airport there, we can confirm that,” she says.



“That will be up to the embassy as to how long it takes, and they would need to confirm your identity to issue that.”

This is an extract of a conversation between two Australian immigration officers and five Syrian asylum seekers on Manus Island. The immigration officers explain that they can either undertake the asylum process in Papua New Guinea, or be returned home if they agree. When the asylum seekers ask how they would be sent home, the female immigration officer responds by telling them that they need to gain travel documents from Syrian authorities in Australia.

The Syrians initially appear to agree to be returned before saying that they want to stay and apply to be refugees. They then plead with the officers to “find a solution” for them.



“Where is the human rights? Where is the humanity?” one of the Syrians asks the officers in English.



When the asylum seekers ask to discuss their potential return further, the male immigration officer replies: “No one can guarantee [inaudible] safety. That’s impossible to do. All we can assist is with your return.”



The asylum seekers said they were concerned about returning to Syria, to which the male immigration officer responds: “I would like to tell you that we could send you to a third party country. But Australia and Papua New Guinea have laws, regulations and policies which we must follow. It does not allow us to remove you to another third-party country where you don’t have a legal right of entry.”



Elaine Pearson, the Australian director of Human Rights Watch, said that Australia should be doing its best to protect Syrians, not making arrangements to send them back to a war zone.



“If immigration can’t guarantee conditions for a voluntary return that is safe and dignified then they shouldn’t send people back, period. Passing on their details to Syrian embassy officials is inherently risky – it could mean detention or even death for some Syrians upon return.”



A spokeswoman for the immigration minister, Scott Morrison, said: “If someone is considering returning home, it is important to remember the decision to return is theirs. It is not always an easy decision to make.

“The type of assistance they will receive varies depending on their individual circumstances. If they are eligible for assistance, they will also receive help organising travel documents.”

“To arrange their return appropriate documents are accessed from the host country.”



Ben Pynt, the director of human rights advocacy at Humanitarian Research Partners, said the recording showed that the immigration department was playing on the fears of asylum seekers that they may be held indefinitely in detention.



“In Syria six million people have fled their homes, children are starving in the street and most of the country has been scarred by years of violence, and we're offering asylum seekers at Manus money to return there. It's no surprise none of them will take it. They came this far searching for safe haven because they have a legitimate fear of persecution, and money will not fix that,” he said.



Guardian Australia has also previously reported that two Syrians on Manus Island had been offered repatriation, despite both having severe mental health issues at the time.



In another exchange, the asylum seekers ask whether they would be resettled by force in Papua New Guinea if they chose to stay there.



The immigration officer said: “Well that’s the policy. If you choose to give everyone a hard time and protest then that will be used against you.”



Later in the recording the officer stresses that return is voluntary: “If you believe you are genuine refugees, what we’re talking to you today about returning, as I said, is voluntary. So if you truly believe you are refugees go through your process, find out if you are refugees and then be settled in Papua New Guinea, and then you can make decisions from there.”



The male immigration officer also appeared to be unaware of the current status of the asylum seekers’ claims, and did not know whether the asylum seekers had received their initial assessments.



Daniel Webb, the director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, said: “Rather than constantly pestering asylum seekers to return home, Australia should process their protection claims.

“The whole notion of ‘voluntary returns’ from Manus is a complete misnomer. The environment there is designed to pressure them into returning. They’re not being processed quickly. They’re not being resettled at all. They’re just warehoused indefinitely in harsh conditions. Sure, some can’t take it any more and give up. But their return is anything but ‘voluntary’,” he said.



The immigration department has previously acknowledged it contacts the Syrian embassy to obtain travel documents. New Matilda reported last year that a Syrian asylum seeker who failed in his bid for refugee status was given a temporary passport from the Syrian embassy at the request of the immigration department.