Manus Island riots: Staff given two-page guide on how to deal with questions from asylum seekers

Updated

The contractor charged with the provision of physical and mental health care to asylum seekers on Manus Island has issued staff with a two-page guide on dealing with questions about the detainees' fears for their personal safety, living conditions and human rights.

The document is clearly designed to help soothe concerns the asylum seekers are expressing in the aftermath of the bloody attacks last month that left one man dead and many others seriously injured.

Health workers have been told to urge the asylum seekers not to give up hope.

The ABC has also been given a letter written by an asylum seeker that was smuggled out of the centre. It claims those in detention are now living in fear of their lives.

There are five inquiries under way into the events that unfolded in the detention centre on February 17.

At some point there will be an official explanation and a conclusion and perhaps even some recommendations.

But inquiries aside, as time goes on, more and more is being learnt about the terrifying events of that night.

We know that it resulted in the death of one man and that many more were badly beaten and badly wounded.

Earlier this week an Australian G4S security guard described to the ABC the details of what was a terrifying night as asylum seekers were hunted down room by room and bashed by enraged local contract staff armed with machetes, sticks and metal bars.

The guard said PNG police stood by as the violence escalated and in some cases participated in the violence and intimidation.

It is an experience that has traumatised many of the staff and the asylum seekers housed in the Manus Island detention centre.

According to the G4S guard, the asylum seekers are now asking who they can trust, who will protect them and who is going to keep them safe.

These questions are also being asked of contractors for the International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), which is responsible for the mental and physical health care of detainees on Manus Island.

There have been so many questions from the asylum seekers there in the past few weeks that the IHMS has seen fit to provide its employees with two pages of suggested responses for the most frequently asked questions.

If they are asked, "How can we feel safe here?", the company suggests the reply should be:

"We understand that you feel unsafe after all that’s happened. It will take a while to feel safe again and we are all working to try and make that happen."

According to expat Australian staff and those in detention that the ABC has spoken to, there is now a real suspicion and hostility between the asylum seekers and locals and a real fear that things could easily get out of control again.

If asked, "Will they do it again?", the IHMS suggested response is to say that:

"This was an extraordinary event and we have never seen anything like it before. We hope it's never repeated. "Security is a big concern here right now to protect you. What we suggest is to not antagonise the local people and we hope that they will treat you with respect too."

In all there are 15 frequently asked questions, including "How can we trust anyone?", "Why have our human rights been violated?" and "How can I get through this?".

To the question "When will I get out of here?", the suggested answer is:

"We are sorry, we don't know the answer to this question."

Other questions with prepared answers are "Why doesn't Australia care?" and "Why shouldn't I hate Australia?".

The suggested answer:

"We can understand why you would feel this way. We are certain that from your own experience you understand that the people of a country are not the same as the government. There are many Australians who care and want to help."

And IHMS staff are urged to help at least keep some hope alive:

"There is always hope. It may not seem like that now in the middle of all this, but there are people who love you and people who will support you. "You need to keep strong and build resilience."

But resilience is in short supply inside.

The ABC's PM program has been given a letter written by one of the detainees and smuggled out by an expat G4S employee.

The four hand-written pages match with the other detail and testimony that has leaked so far about the events of February 17 and the short conclusion at the end underlines the hopelessness and despair.

"We are escaped from our countries because of dangerous situation and human rights," it reads.

"We came to Australia to seek asylum. It's always claimed that Australia is the first country all around the world who protects and defends human rights, but now see what happens with us... lots of us get serious injuries and one of us died.

"Now we are living frightened and all of our lives are in danger in a brutal country in the middle of nowhere."

Know more? Contact us at investigations@abc.net.au

Topics: immigration, community-and-society, federal-government, government-and-politics, papua-new-guinea, australia

First posted