Mr Benjamin said he had also been ''caught by surprise'' that PNG would have to resettle asylum seekers, as well as process them, as stated in the memorandum of understanding between the PNG and Australian governments in September 2013 under then-prime minister Kevin Rudd.

''Most Papua New Guineans have no problem with processing but they have a problem when it comes to resettling, when [the asylum seekers] don't want to come to PNG,'' he said.

''They don't want to be resettled here. They don't want to come to PNG. They have been forced to. This is why we have this problem.''

Mr Benjamin could not say why there had been a delay in processing the 1332 asylum seekers held in the detention centre but he said the ''PNG Solution'' had become ''unpopular'' among island residents, especially after the fatal violence that killed 23-year-old Reza Barati in February.

''It is unpopular because it is not right that people resettle here when they want to go to Australia,'' he said. ''It's not right for us to force them to be here when they don't want to be here. It is going against our own conscience.''