“It is a strange time in the Manus compound,” writes Martin McKenzie-Murray of the people at the centre of the chaotic US refugee deal. “Stranger than usual. Languishing remotely in the Pacific, the detention of these thousand or so men has been the cause of recurring controversies. Now their fate is being considered by the President of the United States, and, government sources tell me, used as a bargaining chip by Donald Trump who will pocket it for future negotiations with Australia.”
“We are all political hostages,” detainee Ben Moghini tells him. “I have broken so much and sometimes I have cried in my single cell… But I will never give up.”
Plus: Roj Amedi on why immigration bans should be no surprise, and our editorial on taking up the fight against fake news.
The Saturday Paper HERE … for one free read
The Saturday Paper
