Press release from Ian Rintoul, Refugee Action Coalition (issued 2am Tuesday February 18, 2014.)
Scores of asylum seekers have been injured, some seriously as gangs of armed PNG police and locals go from compound to compound attacking any asylum seekers they can find.
Asylum seekers were left defenceless when all staff and G4S guards were evacuated from the detention centre. Tension with groups of locals had been building throughout the day. G4S had already withdrawn
from Mike compound late Monday afternoon.
The attacks started late Monday night after the power was cut to the detention centre. PNG police and locals then had the run of the detention centre.
Locals are armed with machetes, pipes, sticks and stones – have bashed and cut asylum seekers. One asylum seeker has been thrown from the second floor of a building; others have suffered machete cuts. There
is one report that a man has been left with his eye hanging from its socket after a bashing.
Asylum seekers fled from their compounds into the dark in a desperate attempt to flee from their attackers. A call from Mustafa in Mike compound around 11pm said that there were only five or six people left
in his compound and they were now fleeing to try and find safety.
People had fled all the other compounds. Mustafa said that he was covered in his own blood from cuts to the head, hand and arms. He estimated at least 50 people in Mike compound alone had been injured.
One of the last of the staff to be taken out of the detention centre around midnight Monday night said it will be a miracle if no-one is killed.
Gunshots can be heard in the background of calls coming from the detention centre.
“The blood spilled inside the Manus detention centre is on the Immigration Minister’s hands. Manus Island has always been a disaster waiting to happen,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee
Action Coalition.
“Scott Morrison deliberately played down the seriousness of the situation and the danger that asylum seekers faced. It seems clear now that the injured asylum seekers were deliberately treated inside the
detention centre to hide the scale and seriousness of the injuries suffered on Sunday night.
“It must be clear now that asylum seekers cannot live safely on Manus Island. They should never have been taken there. Asylum seekers must be brought to Australia.”
Manus Island disturbance a tragedy waiting to happen
The death of an asylum seeker and the injuries suffered by more than 70 others at Manus Island overnight is an appalling tragedy and a failure of Australian Government policy, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) said today.
RCOA chief executive officer Paul Power said his thoughts were with the family of the man who lost his life, the people affected by the violent incident and for the asylum seekers missing on the remote island on Papua New Guinea.
Mr Power called for an immediate investigation and full disclosure of what happened on Manus Island.
He said the conditions that led to the violence at the Manus Island centre were the result of a specific and intentional Government policy to prevent asylum seekers by boat from being resettled as refugees in Australia.
“The asylum seeker who lost his life and the scores of others who sustained serious and minor injuries asked Australia for refugee protection, only to be sent to Manus Island as a punishment for arriving by boat.
“The Government has admitted there was a risk of such a serious incident occurring. For many years, the Australian Government has understood the consequences of indefinite, long-term detention on the mental health of asylum seekers.
“For asylum seekers already traumatised by the persecution or torture they have suffered, and the dangerous journey to find safety and protection, long-term, indefinite detention in a harsh, remote facility creates a highly toxic environment.
“The Australian Government is well-aware that the conditions on Manus Island, described by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as arbitrary detention and harsh, will lead to self-harm and significant mental health damage for asylum seekers.
“Until asylum seekers are given pathways to finalise their refugee status, we will see more serious incidents on Manus Island, Nauru and in facilities like Christmas Island where people are being detained for long periods of time.
“RCOA again calls for the Australian Government to abandon offshore processing and reintroduce alternatives to detention that provide prompt processing of refugee claims while asylum seekers are supported in the community in Australia.”
