A Refugee Journalist Has Been Arrested As Manus Raids Enter Second Day
He was handcuffed, had his belongings stolen, and accused of 'reporting against us' by officials.
Papua New Guinea police officers have detained and then released Behrouz Boochani, a journalist and refugee detained on Manus during a raid on the island’s immigration detention centre.
During the Thursday morning operation, PNG police and immigration officers stormed the compound to try and force the 300 refugees inside to leave. The Manus detention centre was formally closed three weeks ago, but refugees have refused to move due to concerns for their safety in the nearby town of Lorengau. Around 40 men are reported to have been taken via bus to transit accommodation during the raid.
We are blockading right now. So many police and immigration officers are around us at this moment. They destroyed everything and our belongings and right now are shouting at us to leave the prison camp. I am tweeting from a toilet right now.
— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) November 22, 2017
Boochani, a Kurdish Iranian journalist reported from his hiding place in the toilets that officers were confiscating phones and destroying property. Boochani has been a prominent voice for the refugee group, frequently tweeting and reporting for multiple publications on the conditions inside the detention centre. Recently he was awarded an Amnesty International Australian Media award for his work in Manus.
According to witnesses, officers specifically searched for Boochani during the raid, and several pictures showed them leading him away in handcuffs. Later in the day, he tweeted that he’d been held for more than two hours somewhere outside of the camp, had his belongings broken, been pushed and accused of ‘reporting against us’. According to The Guardian, a source on Manus Island has confirmed that he was not charged with any offence.
They are looking for me and Behrouz they found him but they are not going to find me. These are police are taking Behrouz. pic.twitter.com/G01bA46ETC
— Abdul Aziz Adam (@Aziz58825713) November 23, 2017
I’ve just been released. They hancuffed me for more than two hours in a place behind the prison camp. The police commander yelled at me ‘you are reporting against us.’ They pushed me several times and broke my belongings. Will write more about it later.
— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) November 23, 2017
In a response to the incident, Paul Murphy the chief executive of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance said Boochani’s arrest was “an egregious attack on press freedom”.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told 2GB radio that refugees on Manus “had basically their own personal butlers and cleaning maids up there for years”, and that “they have trashed the facility”. He has confirmed that “under no circumstance will these people be coming to Australia”.
Over 300 refugees are still at the former detention centre, in rapidly deteriorating conditions. Footage has been released this morning of armed officers entering the camp again for a second time, and beating the refugees with metal poles.
PNG police are back inside the Manus detention centre and appear to be beating refugees with long metal poles
for the dwindling crowd who still support these offshore detention measures, do you feel good about this? pic.twitter.com/KI3qdm1emr
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) November 23, 2017