PNG Police Are Raiding The Manus Detention Centre To Remove Remaining Men
Call your political representatives now.
PNG police are currently raiding the Manus Island detention centre in an attempt to force remaining residents to leave. Several hundred men have remained in the detention centre without food or medication since its closure on October 31, refusing to move to new accommodation elsewhere in PNG due to fears of violence from locals, and concerns that the new accommodation is incomplete and unsafe.
Journalist and refugee Behrouz Boochani, who is tweeting from inside the Manus Island centre, has described today’s police action as “very aggressive”, and said that an Australian Federal Police officer was leading a group of around 50 PNG police.
“Something terrible is happening right now, they are taking the refugees out of the rooms,” he wrote earlier this morning. “They are destroying everything. Shelters, tanks, beds, and all of our belongings. They are very aggressive and put our belongings in the rubbish bins.”
“The refugees still are silent are watching them so scared.”
Other asylum seekers detained on Manus are currently tweeting claims that police are encouraging them to hang themselves.
Immigration and police started searching the rooms and are saying "Move Move", you only have an hour to move. Too much stress and tension here in Delta. Some refugees are crying.
— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) November 22, 2017
The police, special forces, police squad are now in their hundreds, spreading through the prison camp and around the prison. Navy soldiers are outside the prison camp. We are on high alert right now. We are under attack.
— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) November 22, 2017
They are taking the phones and are very aggresive and are taking out some refugees who still remain in the rooms. Something terrible is happening right now, they are taking the refugees out of the rooms.
— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) November 22, 2017
They are destroying everything. Shelters, tanks, beds and all of our belongings. They are very aggressive and put our belongings in the rubbish bins. The refugees still are silent are watching them so scared.
— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) November 22, 2017
Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton has confirmed that the raid is taking place, claiming men who have refused to leave the facility have “trashed it” and that PNG police must now act to remove them. In a radio interview this morning, he described the situation on Manus as “like the tenant that won’t move out of the house when you’ve built a new house for them”, conveniently ignoring that the men on Manus remain in the centre out of fear for their lives.
Minister Peter Dutton tells @2GB873 it is "outrageous" that the men are still in the Manus detention facility and they have "trashed it". Says it is a PNG police operation to remove them
— Karen Barlow (@KJBar) November 22, 2017
Cops and immigration inside the Manus centre right now, refugees claiming they are destroying property and gear pic.twitter.com/RKRlilnr8W
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) November 22, 2017
Meanwhile, twelve former Australians of the Year have signed an open letter condemning the Australian government’s actions on Manus, calling on them to urgently restore essential services and healthcare for those in the centre. Rosie Batty, Patrick McGorry, Ita Buttrose, and Tim Flannery are among the signatories, who write that “this treatment does not represent who we are as Australians, or indeed as human beings”.
Just yesterday, the UNHCR also condemned the humanitarian crisis on Manus as a “damning indictment” of Australia’s immigration policy, confirming that the new accommodation the refugees have been asked to move to is still not fully constructed.
Nai Jit Lam, a representative of the UNHCR, said that the situation on Manus was “very serious and deteriorating by the day”, and is a “manmade and entirely preventable humanitarian crisis.”
The scenes being described by the men inside the #Manus RPC are terrifying as there are hundreds of police & immigration staff trying to forcibly move them now on orders of Australian Government.
Remember the men are peaceful, anything bad happens to them it's on #Dutton.
— Kon Karapanagiotidis (@Kon__K) November 22, 2017
The situation on Manus is still developing; we’ll update you when we know more. For now, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre is encouraging anyone who can to call their political representatives and demand better for the men on Manus. The numbers of key politicians are below — all you need to do is leave a short message expressing your concern and calling for Australia to evacuate the men to safety here.
Let's all get on the phones to our leaders and stand with #Manus peaceful protest. Demand no violence be used against refugees #EvacuateNow pic.twitter.com/ZMhCpodZZ0
— ASRC (@ASRC1) November 22, 2017