UPDATES THROUGHOUT
By Jill Fraser
MELBOURNE, Australia (AA) – Papua New Guinea’s
prime minister ordered Wednesday the closure of an asylum seeker detention
center it hosts for Australia, after the Pacific nation’s Supreme Court ruled
it illegal.
Peter O’Neill said in a statement that his
government “will immediately ask the Australian Government to make
alternative arrangements for the asylum seekers” on Manus Island.
Under its immigration policy, Australia detains
asylum seekers who
arrive by boat, in processing centers on Manus and the
island country of Nauru,
where conditions have been described as appalling by rights advocates.
On Tuesday, Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court
ordered that measures be undertaken immediately to cease detentions on Manus,
where 850 men are being held — around half of whom have been accepted as
refugees.
“For those that have been deemed to be
legitimate refugees, we invite them to live in Papua New Guinea only if they
want to be a part of our society and make a contribution to our community,”
O’Neill said Wednesday.
“It is clear that several of these
refugees do not want to settle in Papua New Guinea and that is their
decision,” he added.
Without providing details about what measures
would be taken, the prime
minister underlined
that his government would discuss with their Australian counterparts a timeline
for closing the detention facility.
“We did not anticipate the asylum seekers
to be kept as long as they have at the Manus Center,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Australia’s immigration
minister had insisted that the country would not admit people held on Manus.
“We’ll work with PNG and provide what support
is needed to them to help people return to their country of origin or to a
third country otherwise,” Peter Dutton told a morning radio program on news
broadcaster ABC.
He underlined that Canberra would “await the
decision from the PNG government in terms of the next step that they will
take.”
Following O’Neill’s statement, Australia’s
Greens immigration spokeswoman called an early evening press conference in
Canberra.
“This camp [on Manus Island] has killed two men
and destroyed the lives of thousands of others,” Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
said.
Describing Dutton as “delusional”, she said
Australia’s offshore detention policy is “crumbling at its core” and the
minister “is out of options”.
“The statement from the PNG prime minister is
unequivocal,” she stressed.
“The camp will close, Manus Island is over and
Australia is responsible for what will happen to the people who are there.”
