Supreme court will not intervene in standoff between refugees and authorities over shutting down of detention centre • Read the judgment

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Papua New Guinea’s supreme court has refused a bid to restore power, water and medical services to the Manus detention centre.

About 600 refugees and asylum seekers have refused to leave the Manus Island detention centre, which was closed last Tuesday.

Turnbull says Manus detainees aren’t scared, just manipulated by ‘activists in Australia’ Read more

Electricity was shut off to the final compounds last Wednesday morning, more than 12 hours after the scheduled 5pm shutdown, and the generator was removed. Food, water and other essential services had already been stopped, and all staff left early on Tuesday last week.

The asylum seekers still living in the compound have pleaded for Australia and other countries to come to their aid, saying they are too scared to leave the compound to seek alternative accommodation in the main township out of fear they will be attacked by locals.

The court application, brought by the PNG lawyer Ben Lomai and the Australian barrister Greg Barns, sought the restoration of food, water and health services to the detention centre, arguing to withdraw those before a safe resettlement option was available for the men was a breach of their constitutionally guaranteed human rights.

But PNG’s chief justice said he was satisfied the PNG government had provided alternative accommodation that allowed for free movement and that the services provided were of sufficient standard.

In refusing to grant relief to the applicant, Boochani, PNG’s chief justice, Sir Salamo Injia, said: “I am satisfied the government of PNG, with the assistance of the Australian government, have [sic] provided alternative accommodation at three sites outside the MRPC compound that allows for freedom movement and access by the asylum seekers, that the services provided are of good standard and that the allowances paid to the asylum seekers are sufficient for their daily sustenance.”

But he said which government had legal responsibility for the men’s welfare was unclear.

“I am unable to make any definitive and conclusive finding on the question whether the PNG government takes sole responsibility, legally speaking, to cater for the future welfare of the asylum seekers after the closure of the MRPC … the same is said of Australia’s obligations under international law to the extent that Australia may have some responsibility over asylum seekers that were destined for Australia but redirected to PNG to process their refugee status on PNG soil.”

Lawyers say they are planning to appeal the decision, possibly as early as Wednesday.

The 600 men in the detention centre are running low on food, and are relying, in some cases, on wells they have dug and rubbish bins collecting rainwater, for drinking water. Several men are dangerously low on medicines.

The alternative accommodation the refugees and asylum seekers are being encouraged to move to is not yet ready for habitation, according to independent observers. But fundamentally, the men argue, they are not safe living in the Manusian community. Tensions between local people and the transplanted refugee population have been growing in recent months, and marred by several violent encounters.

“Just now, the PNG court rejected our application,” the applicant in the case, the Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani, said in the wake of the court’s decision. “It means the government can kill us by depriving us of access to food. We are outside of any law.”

Amnesty International has said lives were at risk unless essential services were restored to the detention centre, and that refugees and asylum seekers should not be forcibly relocated until their dignity and safety could be guaranteed.

“If authorities don’t act immediately, there is a real risk that the situation will catastrophically deteriorate,” said Amnesty International’s Pacific researcher, Kate Schuetze. “The lives of these men, who are only asking for their rights to dignity and safety, are at serious risk.”

Manus refugee who reached Canada last week says deaths are 'very likely' Read more

“This is the third time I have visited Manus Island but what we witnessed there over the past week shocked me to the core. This is a desperate situation on the brink of a catastrophe.

“That the Australian and PNG authorities have created such a crisis, leaving vulnerable refugees who sought Australia’s protection in such a desperate situation is callous, cruel and completely disgraceful.”



Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition said the court’s decision did not alter the Australian government’s responsibility for those it had sent to Manus, nor the ongoing “inhumanity” of the situation.

“It does not alter the fact that Manus is unsafe, and settlement in PNG is impossible. The onus is still on the government to provide the safety and security that the refugees and asylum seekers need.”



Elaine Pearson, Australia director with Human Rights Watch, said the court ruling left hundreds of people stuck in a crisis situation, with diminishing supplies of food, water, and medical care.

“Australia established and subsequently abandoned this centre – it’s up to Australia to bring these men to safety,” she said.

“Prime Minister Turnbull can’t turn a blind eye to the well-founded safety concerns these men have. Moving hundreds of men to a town where refugees have been beaten, stabbed and robbed is incredibly irresponsible.”

Australia’s immigration and border protection department has rejected much of the testimony of independent observers and refugees themselves, saying: “There has been significant misreporting in recent days about the situation in Manus province.”

“Claims that Australia ‘abandoned’ former-residents are not correct however; the department’s staff no longer had authority to remain on the PNG naval base and they departed, along with other service provider personnel and PNG ICSA staff.



MPs are craven milksops desperate for your approval. Call them about Manus! | First Dog on the Moon Read more

“Former residents who choose to stay at the RPC site are doing so fully informed that PNG has provided them with suitable alternatives and that these can be accessed at any time. Any claims to the contrary are simply not true.”

All of the accommodation on Manus that has been, and is being built, is being paid for by Australia. The ongoing housing, food and healthcare costs for those held on the island are also Australia’s responsibility. Australia has committed to funding all expenses of offshore processing, budgeting for between $150m and $250m on Manus alone this financial year.

According to international law – including the opinion of various United Nations bodies – Australia has legal responsibility for the welfare of those on the island.

Turnbull dismissed the fears of refugees who say they are too scared to leave the detention centre, claiming instead they were being encouraged to stay there by refugee advocates and the Greens.



He also rejected New Zealand’s offer to take 150 refugees from Australia’s offshore island centres, saying the Australia-US resettlement deal should be exhausted before considering that option.