This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Australia’s immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has praised Papua New Guinean authorities for “professionally” moving to end the standoff at the Manus Island detention centre by taking away alleged ringleaders.



Dutton dismissed reports of authorities denying detainees food and water as “complete and utter nonsense” and “irresponsible”, but said some people might continue protests and attempt to harm themselves.

Guards in riot gear reportedly entered the Delta and Oscar compounds on Monday afternoon to end the week-long standoff by removing alleged ringleaders. The situation had grown steadily worse in recent days, with hunger strikes and dehydration said to be widespread.

A spokesman for PNG’s government told the ABC that Mataio Rabura, the country’s chief migration officer, entered Delta compound and negotiated an end to the barricade, which allowed dehydrated protesters access to medical treatment.

Tony Abbott said the protest in some parts of the centre “amounted to a blockade”.

“There was a major challenge to the policy of the government and I’m pleased to say that that challenge has been defeated,” the prime minister said.

In an interview on Tuesday, Dutton said he wanted to thank the PNG government for managing the situation in a “very impressive” manner.

“The PNG authorities as well as Transfield and my own departmental staff I think have acted in an exemplary way, but nonetheless the threat is ever-present and we are monitoring it,” the minister told the ABC.

“I think we’re handling it exceptionally well in the circumstances.”

Dutton told Sky News “a degree of force” was used to resolve the standoff and the situation remained “volatile”.

Asked about claims by an asylum seeker that he saw guards beating people in Delta compound, Dutton criticised “irresponsible reporting”.

“I think there have been reports that have been repeated for example on the ABC around food that’s been denied. That is complete and utter nonsense on the advice available to me.”

Dutton said reports of water being denied were also “complete rubbish”. Six days ago Guardian Australia published a photo of a sign at the detention centre indicating some of the water equipment had broken down and showers were suspended. There have been subsequent reports about a lack of water.

Dutton said on Tuesday food and water was “not being denied” by authorities, but there had been “some circumstances where ringleaders within the people who are in the processing centre have denied staff access into particular areas for the delivery of food”.

Asked if the conflict continued at the centre, Dutton said: “There will still be some people who refuse to take water or food and will self-harm and we don’t want to see that, but I say to those people that that activity if you’ve been advised by advocates or others to conduct yourself in a non-compliant way … somehow that that is going to help – it is not.”

Refugee advocates strenuously denied claims first aired by Dutton on Friday that outsiders were encouraging such protests. At the time, Ben Pynt of the advocacy group Humanitarian Research Partners said he was “affronted by this allegation” because he had spent the past week telling people not to self-harm.

Information from the Manus Island centre is often contested. Last week, Dutton’s department initially denied a hunger strike was taking place.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, had called on the government to be more upfront about developments on Manus Island.

Dutton said he provided information “as it was available to us” but said releasing details of the operation as it was under way on Monday could have jeopardised safety.