At a Senate estimates hearing on Monday night, the head of immigration and border security, Michael Pezzullo, said the fate of gay and bisexual men held in Australian offshore processing is a matter for Papua New Guinea.

Earlier this year, immigration minister Peter Dutton said none of the 854 asylum-seekers detained on Manus Island would be resettled in Australia, following the announcement the detention centre would close.

However, this leaves gay and bisexual refugees in a state of fear over two undesirable options: returning to their country of origin, or being resettled in a country where homosexuality is illegal.

Pezzullo said the Australian government had "acquitted its non-refoulement obligations over two-and-a-half years ago" when agreements with the PNG government were drawn up by the Rudd and Gillard governments.

"In other words," asked Labor senator Louise Pratt, "the Australian government has no responsibility to those gay men who are currently detained on Manus, in terms of whether their human rights in relation to their sexuality will be upheld in PNG or not?"



"The Australian government – a number of governments, actually, that straddle several parliamentary terms – discharged all of its legal undertakings at the time of the transfer, yes," Pezzullo said.