Violence continues to mar the forced relocation of refugees out of the Manus Island detention centre, with three men attacked – two with machetes – in separate robberies on the island at the weekend.

A 27-year-old Sudanese refugee had his leg cut with a bush knife when men broke into a guesthouse he was staying in in the main Manus township of Lorengau on Saturday.

In an unrelated incident, an Iranian asylum seeker had his wrist badly cut when he was attacked and robbed in the street in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Pictures of the man’s injuries – showing a deep wound and significant blood loss – were circulated on social media.

“They turned him over and cut open his veins,” one refugee said. “It was like revenge; like they wanted him dead.”

And later on Sunday, an Afghan refugee was attacked as he walked on the street near the hospital and had his wallet and phone stolen.

The two men attacked with knives have been treated at Lorengau’s small hospital but will probably require more specialist attention in Port Moresby.

The attacks are likely to increase resistance among asylum seekers and refugees to being forcibly moved from the closing Manus Island detention centre to a new “refugee transit centre” built by Australia on the outskirts of Lorengau.

The Papua New Guinean and Australian governments are committed to closing the Australian-run centre – ruled illegal by PNG’s supreme court 16 months ago – by the end of October. The dismantling of the compounds has begun even before men have moved out.

Some refugees have been left living in buildings without power or running water, and threatened they will be arrested if they refuse to move to a compound Australia has built near the township of East Lorengau.

They have been told their chances to be resettled in the US – which many believe are remote and fading – will be jeopardised if they don’t agree to relocation.

Medical, catering, educational and recreational facilities have begun to be shuttered. Bulldozers and cranes have been moved in – including at night – to begin demolishing buildings.

A letter from PNG’s immigration authority on Monday announced that all power and water to Foxtrot compound would be cut imminently.

The Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani told Guardian Australia: “The Australian Border Force and PNG immigration cut the power and water in Foxtrot which is the largest compound in Manus prison camp. According to their plan, they want to first close Foxtrot then close other compounds to force people to go to the transit centre which is close to the local Lorengau community.

“About 100 refugees are living in Foxtrot and at this moment there is not any place for them to live.

“Pressure is increasing inside the prison camp, and on the other side the attacks on the refugees in Lorengau town are increasing. The ABF plan is to put pressure on both sides to force the refugees to go back to their countries.”

Tensions have been steadily building between the refugees on Manus – all single men – and locals in the small township of Lorengau.



A number of consensual relationships have begun between refugees and Manusian women. There have also been allegations of sexual offences by refugees and asylum seekers, including against children.

There is resentment too, of apparent advantages given to refugees and asylum seekers, including around accommodation and allowances for food and cigarettes.

Manus, the smallest province in PNG and distant north, is underdeveloped and routinely ignored by the Port Moresby-centric national government.

The Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani told Guardian Australia refugees did not feel safe being forcibly relocated to Lorengau. “It’s a chain of attacks and, unfortunately, the local police cannot protect the refugees,” he said. “This kind of incidents are commonly happens in Lorengau town for refugees.”

Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition said there was no viable solution for refugees and asylum seekers in PNG, and those illegally held on Manus – most for four years – should be brought to Australia.

“The moves to meet the arbitrary October deadline for closure is literally putting refugees’ lives at risk,” he said. “Not only are refugees vulnerable to attack, there is no adequate medical treatment and insufficient food for those forced into East Lorengau.”

Last month the Australian government agreed to pay $70m in compensation to 1,905 men held on Manus for their illegal detention and the physical and psychological damage their incarceration had caused, but without admitting liability.