Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says 35 asylum seekers escaped from the Manus Island detention centre last night but were quickly recaptured.

Mr Morrison says the breakout happened about 6:15pm (local time) and was the result of "much-heightened" tensions at the facility.

He says a fence and power pole were damaged during the escape.

"Within about an hour and a quarter, control was restored to the centre," he said.

"All things were quiet last night."

Eight asylum seekers have been arrested and 19 have been treated at the centre's medical clinic, but Mr Morrison says none of the patients are "exhibiting life-threatening conditions".

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 5 minutes 2 seconds 5 m Manus Island MP says no asylum seekers have escaped from the detention centre ( Chris Uhlmann ) Download 2.3 MB

Mr Morrison says he does not know how the asylum seekers were injured.

"It is a situation on Manus, where people don't want to be there," he told Fairfax Radio.

"You need to manage those tensions and those tensions were much-heightened last night.

"But that situation has been brought under control and we know where everybody is, I'm advised, and every one of our own people is safe."

Manus Island MP Ronnie Knight earlier told the ABC that seven people had been arrested in connection with what his local staff told him was a brawl at the facility.

"It was not a breakout or a riot or anything as such," he said earlier.

"Apparently yesterday afternoon there was an altercation amongst the asylum seekers themselves and it was very, very violent."

Protest occurred over resettlement prospects, says advocate

Local doctor Otto Numan said health workers had told him there was a "mass breakout", but he added that no injured asylum seekers or guards had been brought to hospital.

The Australian-based Refugee Action Coalition put out a statement last night saying protests at the centre had escalated earlier that day.

Manus Island Located in northern Papua New Guinea

Located in northern Papua New Guinea Island is 100km long, 30km wide

Island is 100km long, 30km wide Population 50,000

Population 50,000 Largest city is Lorengau

Largest city is Lorengau Detention centre first opened 2001, reopened 2012

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul says he has spoken to some people inside the Manus Island detention centre.

He says he was told the protest happened after they were told their prospects of resettlement in another country were bleak.

"The things escalated from there. There were some fires set," he said.

"I don't know the extent of the damage. We were told some tents had been burnt.

"Some people had jumped over internal fences and then later, towards six o'clock, the outer perimeter of the fence was breached and people did leave the compound."

Morrison says PNG resettlement deal still stands

Mr Morrison has rejected suggestions that the trouble was triggered by further uncertainty about where asylum seekers would be resettled if they were found to be refugees.

He says the deal, struck by former prime minister Kevin Rudd, for Papua New Guinea to take them in permanently still stands.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 55 seconds 55 s Tony Abbott says asylum seeker resettlement in PNG 'still an option' ( Chris Uhlmann ) Download 431.8 KB

"That is the commitment that [PNG prime minister] Peter O'Neill gave to Kevin Rudd, that is the agreement they say they will honour," he said.

"But the difficulties of having that put in place, I've mentioned before. There wasn't a lot of detail negotiated by the previous government - we've been salvaging all of that.

"But I can assure you they're not coming to Australia and the commitments we have from PNG is they'll be resettled there."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said this morning that he still expects the asylum seekers can be permanently resettled.

"Prime minister Peter O'Neill has reassured me repeatedly that the same deal that was on offer to the former government remains on offer," he told ABC's RN Breakfast.

"My understanding is that there has been no such information given to people that they'll never be resettled in PNG."

Application processing has begun, says PNG foreign minister

PNG's foreign minister Rimbink Pato says officials have started processing refugee applications.

But the country does not have a visa category for refugees and there has been little public information about how, and where, they might be resettled.

Mr Pato told PNG's parliament last week that he would seek the help of the Australian Government and the United Nations in deciding whether to resettle refugees within the country.

He said the option of resettling refugees in a third country would also be explored.

"So what the cabinet has decided recently is to appoint a group of eminent Papua New Guineans who will be assisted by relevant expertise from the UN, from the Australian Government, and other responsible stakeholders, to come up with relevant policy framework determining the question whether those asylum seekers will or will not be settled in PNG," he said.

The Manus Island detention centre was first set up by the Howard government in 2001.

It was closed by the Labor government in 2008 but reopened by them in November 2012.