Behaviour of Hamed, who has been released from Lorengau prison following an acute mental health episode, described as erratic and bizarre

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A refugee jailed following an acute mental breakdown in the Manus Island detention centre has been released from prison, only for him to be found wandering the streets of the Papua New Guinea town of Lorengau, half-naked, “hungry and homeless” according to fellow refugees, politicians and police.



The behaviour of Hamed, a refugee from Iran whose surname Guardian Australia has chosen not to publish, has grown increasingly erratic and bizarre, leading to conflicts with the Manussian population.



“He sometimes was naked and only wearing boxer shorts in the Lorengau streets and most of the time he was hungry and homeless,” Manus refugee Behrouz Boochani has reported. “The small children made fun of him and disturbed him. The refugees, local people and police beat him because he was mentally ill and he used to disturb people. Everyone would run away from him because of his behaviour.”



Hamed’s deteriorating mental health came to authorities’ attention as long ago as June, when he was found wandering the detention centre, distressed, naked and screaming incoherently. He was put into “managed accommodation” where he was allegedly assaulted by, and assaulted, guards, before being put in the Lorengau jail for the first time.

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Leaked “psychological support” files from within the Manus Island detention centre refer consistently to Hamed’s “chaotic presentation” and report he was “agitated, aggressive, verbally abusive, pushing boundaries constantly, and has required police presence on numerous occasions”.

He has since been jailed several times after suffering severe mental episodes and behaving unpredictably or aggressively. Detention centre staff have told Guardian Australia Hamed is “a very sick man. He needs serious help”.

Manus MP Ron Knight, who arranged for Hamed to be released from prison so he could access mental health care, said he was receiving none.

“To be blunt, the guy is dangerous to all around him and he needs psychiatric help. There is none for him here.”

Knight said he approached the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby about Hamed being committed to a psychiatric facility.

“The response to me was basically that our authorities should handle it.”

A spokesman for Australia’s department of immigration and border protection said Hamed was housed at the East Lorengau refugee transit centre, and his care was the responsibility of PNG’s immigration authorities.

“Refugees have access to services, including mental health services, available at the Lorengau Hospital as well as clinic services provided by International Health and Medical Services (IHMS),” the spokesman said.

The department declined to comment on Hamed’s specific health care. PNG’s immigration and citizenship service did not return calls from Guardian Australia.



Since the PNG supreme court ruled, nearly 10 months ago, that the Manus Island regional processing centre was “illegal and unconstitutional”, cosmetic changes to the detention regime have brought those in detention into greater contact with the Manussian population, which has led to rising tensions.



The men remain in detention, behind high metal fences, unable to move freely and with their communications monitored, but they are allowed to catch daily buses into Lorengau township, returning at night. Scores of men found to be refugees have been moved into the Australian-built and -run East Lorengau refugee transit centre – established as a temporary accommodation for refugees being resettled elsewhere – but which has become de facto long-term housing while Australia negotiates a resettlement plan with other countries.

Boochani, an Iranian refugee and journalist detained on Manus, said Australia was trying to shift responsibility for refugees to PNG.

“The refugees in Manus prison have been under systematic torture for a long time and they need medical treatment and specialist psychological treatment, but instead of protecting them Australia has released them in Lorengau town without any psychological treatment. It’s obvious that this situation will make trouble both for the refugees and the local people,” Boochani told Guardian Australia.

He said police on Manus were acutely conscious of the tension the presence of refugees was creating in Lorengau.

“The system puts people in conflict and this is a big problem at this moment. Hamed, as a refugee who is need of psychological care, is an example of how Australia does not care about what local people want or about refugees. Instead of providing medical treatment for him, Australia has abandoned him in Manus society where it makes trouble for locals, police, the court and refugees.



“After causing so much psychological harm they have left a man with a lot of mental problems in a strange society without any protection and put him in danger. They have left him hungry and homeless.”

Knight said he was concerned for the safety of the people of Manus as well as that of refugees now allowed out in the community.

He said neither the PNG nor Australian governments was willing to take responsibility for the welfare of refugees, who were being forced into the refugee transit centre without adequate support.



“I am continually facing a brick wall of silence from PNG and Australia who seem to be chucking the issues back and forth.

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“I have no option now but to make some connection with asylum seeker representatives and come to some common understanding on rules of conduct for both them and my people ... lay down some ground rules for common understanding. Failing that, I assure you, bloodshed will occur.”



In June, 14 refugees and asylum seekers in the detention centre complained formally about the treatment of Hamed to Broadspectrum, the company subcontracted by the Australian government to run the detention centre.

“We, the signatories to this complaint form want to know why you are not providing mental health support to Hamed ... and instead you have subjected him to ill-treatment and corporal punishment because he is not behaving normally due to his mental ailment.

“He is sick and he must be in hospital, not in public ... he doesn’t have any control over his actions.”