This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/world/australia/papua-new-guinea-manus-island-detainees.html

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Papua New Guinea’s Police Storm Manus Island Refugee Camp Papua New Guinea’s Police Storm Manus Island Refugee Camp
(about 2 hours later)
SYDNEY, Australia — The authorities in Papua New Guinea confronted asylum seekers on Thursday inside a controversial detention center on Manus Island, ordering hundreds of detainees to leave and destroying their belongings in an attempt to end a standoff at the camp that has drawn international scrutiny to Australia’s offshore detention policy.SYDNEY, Australia — The authorities in Papua New Guinea confronted asylum seekers on Thursday inside a controversial detention center on Manus Island, ordering hundreds of detainees to leave and destroying their belongings in an attempt to end a standoff at the camp that has drawn international scrutiny to Australia’s offshore detention policy.
Around 7 a.m. local time, detainees said, P.N.G. security forces stormed the former refugee camp and began tearing through the men’s shelters and makeshift water tanks, before announcing on a loudspeaker that the men had to leave for alternative facilities on the island. By early afternoon, dozens of the asylum seekers had been removed from the camp and placed on three minibuses, said refugee advocates who were at the scene.
“They drove past with their heads out the windows, and they cried, ‘Help us,’” said Tim Costello, chief advocate for World Vision Australia, a charity. “They looked sullen and disturbed and defeated.”
Abdul Aziz Muhamat, a Sudanese asylum seeker in the camp, said the men taken away had been targeted because they were separated from a larger group and were easier to remove. “The problem was, those men split up from the rest of us,” he said.
The Papua New Guinea authorities’ aggressive move, which Australia’s immigration minister confirmed was taking place, represented an escalation of the conflict over the Manus center. It comes three weeks after Australia officially closed the camp on Oct. 31, cutting off electricity, food and water as hundreds of the detainees, all of whom are men, refused to leave.
Since 2013, Australia has paid neighboring Papua New Guinea to shelter migrants who were intercepted at sea while trying to reach Australia. The country’s policy, which the government says is meant to deter human trafficking, is that no such migrant will ever be allowed to settle in Australia.
Security forces stormed the camp around 7 a.m. Wednesday and began tearing through the men’s shelters and makeshift water tanks, before announcing on a loudspeaker that the men had to leave for alternative facilities on the island, detainees said.
“They’ve destroyed everything: our belongings, our shelters, our rooms and beds,” said Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish asylum seeker and journalist in the center. “They said, ‘You must leave this prison camp.’ ”“They’ve destroyed everything: our belongings, our shelters, our rooms and beds,” said Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish asylum seeker and journalist in the center. “They said, ‘You must leave this prison camp.’ ”
Mr. Boochani said the authorities were confiscating mobile phones, after a number of refugees photographed and filmed the episode, making it available to international news media outlets. Mr. Boochani said the authorities were confiscating mobile phones after a number of refugees photographed and filmed the episode, making it available to international news media outlets.
“At this moment that I’m talking with you, I’m in the toilet,” said Mr. Boochani, who has regularly posted Twitter messages and written stories from the camp. “If I go outside, they’ll take my phone. It’s possible that if I go out, they’ll arrest me. I’m only worried that I won’t be able to write and tweet.” “At this moment that I’m talking with you, I’m in the toilet,” said Mr. Boochani, who has regularly posted Twitter messages and written articles from the camp. “If I go outside, they’ll take my phone. It’s possible that if I go out, they’ll arrest me. I’m only worried that I won’t be able to write and tweet.”
The authorities did not immediately evict the men, but the aggressive campaign, confirmed by Australia’s immigration minister, represented an escalation of the conflict. It comes three weeks after Australia officially closed the camp on Oct. 31, cutting off electricity, food and water as hundreds of detainees refused to leave. The asylum seekers’ defiance was partly an act of protest, but it was also motivated by complaints that alternative facilities were not ready. Many of the men have also said they feared they would be attacked or intimidated by local residents who have resisted Australia’s attempt to move them closer to the island’s largest city, Lorengau.
Since 2013, Australia has paid neighboring Papua New Guinea to shelter migrants trying to reach Australia. On Thursday, Australia’s immigration minister, Peter Dutton, accused the detainees of ruining the detention center and wasting Australian taxpayers’ money.
Their defiance was partly an act of protest, but it was also motivated by complaints that alternative facilities were not ready, and because many of the men feared that they would be attacked or intimidated by local residents who have resisted Australia’s attempt to move the men closer to the island’s largest city, Lorengau.
On Thursday, Australia’s immigration minister, Peter Dutton, accused the detainees of ruining the detention center and wasting Australian taxpayer money.
“I think it’s outrageous that people are still there,” he told 2GB radio. “They’ve trashed the facility, they’re living in squalor.”“I think it’s outrageous that people are still there,” he told 2GB radio. “They’ve trashed the facility, they’re living in squalor.”
He compared the situation to building a new house for tenants who then refuse to move in. “The Australian taxpayers have paid about $10 million for a new facility and we want people to move,” he said.He compared the situation to building a new house for tenants who then refuse to move in. “The Australian taxpayers have paid about $10 million for a new facility and we want people to move,” he said.
Advocates for the detainees have questioned Mr. Dutton’s assessment — noting that photographic evidence has repeatedly shown that the alternative facilities are not ready, despite his claims that they were operational and adequate. Detainee advocates have questioned Mr. Dutton’s assessment, pointing to photographic evidence that the alternate facilities are not ready.
“I find it very hard to believe anything that the immigration minister is saying at this stage — that’s based on the fact that I was at the camp on Manus Island last week,” said Jana Favero, director of advocacy at the Asylum Seeker Resource Center. “The only thing that’s making these men live in these conditions is the destruction that’s been brought on them by authorities. I can understand why they’re staying: because they’re going to be moved from one prison to another.”“I find it very hard to believe anything that the immigration minister is saying at this stage — that’s based on the fact that I was at the camp on Manus Island last week,” said Jana Favero, director of advocacy at the Asylum Seeker Resource Center. “The only thing that’s making these men live in these conditions is the destruction that’s been brought on them by authorities. I can understand why they’re staying: because they’re going to be moved from one prison to another.”
Mr. Boochani said that the men were tired, and he demanded that the Australian government find a solution to the stalemate.Mr. Boochani said that the men were tired, and he demanded that the Australian government find a solution to the stalemate.
“We’ve been in this prison camp for more than four years,” he said. “We are refugees, and we’ve been recognized as refugees by international law. Let us go to a third country. We don’t want to go to Australia.”“We’ve been in this prison camp for more than four years,” he said. “We are refugees, and we’ve been recognized as refugees by international law. Let us go to a third country. We don’t want to go to Australia.”
Of the 843 asylum seekers still on Manus, nearly 200 have not had their claims for refugee status approved or have been rejected, including many of the camp’s leaders.
Just hours after Mr. Boochani said he feared arrest, asylum seekers on the island said he had been taken from the camp by the authorities. Mr. Boochani later said in a tweet that he had been released, and that the authorities had berated him over his reporting.
Mr. Boochani is a prominent figure at the camp. His writing has appeared regularly in the Australian news media and has won multiple awards, most recently from Amnesty International. “I have a feeling that was their strategy — to arrest a few key people,” said Ms. Favero, the refugee advocate.