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Agence France-Presse

Hundreds of asylum seekers were refusing to leave an Australian detention camp in Papua New Guinea that authorities closed Tuesday, citing fears for their safety, despite food, water and electricity being cut off.
Staff have abandoned the camp on Manus Island, and one resident said detainees had locked themselves in because they were terrified of what could happen to them outside its gates.
The stand-off is the latest development in a long-running and bitter dispute over Australia’s controversial offshore detention policy.
Asylum seekers who try to reach the country by boat are sent to two remote Pacific processing centres – PNG’s Manus Island and Nauru.
They are barred from settling in Australia, even if they are ultimately found to have a legitimate case for asylum.

Canberra says the policy is designed to discourage people from attempting the risky journey by sea.
Human rights groups have been campaigning for years to have Manus shut down, amid reports of widespread abuse, self-harm and mental health problems.
The Australian government agreed to close the Manus facility by the end of October after the PNG Supreme Court ruled last year that holding people there was unconstitutional.
More than 600 men housed in the camp have been told to move to three transition centres on Manus. The present site is to be handed over the PNG military.
But many men have locked themselves in the centre.

“Refugees adamant they won’t leave detention. They are afraid but refuse to leave,” one Manus detainee, an Iranian called Behrouz Boochani, tweeted Tuesday.
“The power will be cut after 5pm. The refugees know that it will be very hard to stay, but are saying we will stay in a peaceful way.”
He added that detainees had locked the camp’s main gate to protect themselves.
Detainees told Fairfax Media earlier Tuesday that locals had started to loot equipment from the camp as PNG authorities looked on.
Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton insisted the detainees were not welcome in Australia.
They have been told “there is safe and secure alternate accommodation where health and other services will be maintained,” he said.

“These people sought to subvert Australia’s laws by paying people smugglers to bring them illegally to Australia by boat – none will ever resettle here,” he said.
Refugee advocates say the transition centres are not secure, leaving the detainees defenceless against a hostile host community.
“They are vulnerable to attacks from locals. We’ve seen so many victims and casualties already because of those kinds of attacks,” refugee advocate Ian Rintoul said.
Manus detainees have been given the option of making a life in PNG, moving to the Nauru camp, returning to their homeland, or going to a third country like Cambodia or the US.

So far, just 54 people have notified of their acceptance by the US, with 24 flown out to America in September.
Rintoul said supporters had filed an injunction in the PNG Supreme Court to stop the camp’s closure, demanding that food, water and other services are restored.
“There are real fears that the government will authorise force to be used against the asylum seekers and refugees in the centre,” Rintoul added.
A “final message” put up at the centre, posted online, stated that arrangements were being made to return the site to the PNG Defence Force.
“Move to alternative accommodation now,” the message said.
“Anyone choosing to remain here will be liable for removal from an active PNG military base.”


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Manus stand-off: hundreds of asylum seekers defy relocation orders, barricade themselves in PNG detention centre

Hundreds of asylum seekers were refusing to leave an Australian detention camp in Papua New Guinea that authorities closed Tuesday, citing fears for their safety, despite food, water and electricity being cut off. Photo: AFP

(FILES) This file photo received on February 18, 2014, shows an undated photo obtained from the Refugee Action Coalition, shows a man walking between tents at Australia's regional processing centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Footage from within one of Australia's offshore detention facilities for asylum seekers reached its first international audience in London on October 9, 2017, with one of the filmmakers highlighting the plight of his co-director who remains inside the camp. The footage was shot on a smartphone by Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian who has spent four years in the camp since the boat he was trying to reach Australia on was intercepted by the authorities. Boochani had been invited by the British Film Institute (BFI) to attend the screening of his film, with the festival hosts praising the documentary as "brave, thoughtful and urgent filmmaking". / AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION / Handout

This undated handout picture taken and received on October 31, 2017 from the Refugee Action Coalition shows a final notice at the Manus detention camp in Papua New Guinea on the day of the camp's expected closure. Hundreds of "scared" refugees are refusing to leave an Australian detention camp in Papua New Guinea that is due to close on October 31, with fears they could be forcibly removed by authorities. / AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS == NO ARCHIVE

This handout picture taken and received on October 31, 2017 by Nick McKim, Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania, shows gathered refugees with one holding a placard inside the Manus detention camp in Papua New Guinea on the day of the camp's expected closure. Hundreds of "scared" refugees are refusing to leave an Australian detention camp in Papua New Guinea that is due to close on October 31, with fears they could be forcibly removed by authorities. / AFP PHOTO / Nick McKim / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NICK McKIM" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS == NO ARCHIVE

This photo made from Australia Broadcasting Corporation video taken on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017, shows housing of asylum seekers protesting the possible closure of their detention center, on Manus Island, Paua New Guinea. Lawyers for 606 asylum seekers in an Australian offshore detention center on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island sought a court injunction to prevent the facility's scheduled closure, as fears mounted of violent confrontations with locals who oppose the asylum seekers living among them. (Australia Broadcasting Corporation via AP)

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(FILES) An undated handout file photo obtained from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection on February 18, 2014 shows the interior of a tent at Australia's regional processing centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Detainees at a controversial Australian asylum-seeker camp in Papua New Guinea on June 14, 2017, won 70 million Australian dollars (53 million USD) in compensation from the government after alleging they suffered physical and psychological harm. / AFP PHOTO / DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

(FILES) An undated handout file photo obtained from the Refugee Action Coalition on February 18, 2014 shows a man walking between tents at Australia's regional processing centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Detainees at a controversial Australian asylum-seeker camp in Papua New Guinea on June 14, 2017, won 70 million Australian dollars (53 million USD) in compensation from the government after alleging they suffered physical and psychological harm. / AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS == NO ARCHIVE

Security fences surround buildings inside the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea, February 11, 2017. Picture taken February 11, 2017. Behrouz Boochani/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

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Officials inside the Manus Island refugee camp in Papua New Guinea. Photo: Reuters

Detainees are pictured inside the Manus Island refugee camp in Papua New Guinea, February 11, 2017. Picture taken February 11, 2017. Behrouz Boochani/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

Detainees walk around the compound among water bottles inside the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea, February 11, 2017. Picture taken February 11, 2017. Behrouz Boochani/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

A life of despair: A still from the documentary film "Chasing Asylum," about the lives of refugees stranded on Nauru and Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, because Australia will not take them. (CinemaPlus)

Accommodation for detainees is photographed inside the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea, February 11, 2017. Picture taken February 11, 2017. Behrouz Boochani/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

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A a man walking between tents at Australia’s regional processing centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Photo: AFP

epa04623532 A man watches at a sky-writing reading 'CLOSE NAURU' above Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, 17 February 2015. The protest was put together by three individuals calling themselves 'Unaligned Individuals'. Manus island, in northern Papua New Guinea, is used by Australia as an immigration detention and asylum seeker processing centre, where illegal immigrants are kept for long times. EPA/MICK TSIKAS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

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Demonstrators in Sydney took to the streets this week, calling for the Australian government to settle refugee held in centres on Nauru and Manus Island in the country. Photo: Reuters

(FILES) This file photo received on June 14, 2017 shows a handout photo taken in late 2016, and obtained from the Refugee Action Coalition, shows Australia's regional processing centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Footage from within one of Australia's offshore detention facilities for asylum seekers reached its first international audience in London on October 9, 2017, with one of the filmmakers highlighting the plight of his co-director who remains inside the camp. The footage was shot on a smartphone by Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian who has spent four years in the camp since the boat he was trying to reach Australia on was intercepted by the authorities. Boochani had been invited by the British Film Institute (BFI) to attend the screening of his film, with the festival hosts praising the documentary as "brave, thoughtful and urgent filmmaking". / AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITI

(FILES) An undated file handout photo obtained from the Refugee Action Coalition on February 18, 2014 shows a man walking between tents at Australia's regional processing centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. A first group of refugees left Australia's remote Pacific detention camps for the United States on September 26, 2017 to be resettled under a deal that angered President Donald Trump. / AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS == NO ARCHIVE

(FILES) This file photo taken recieved on February 18, 2014 shows a handout photo taken in late 2016, and obtained from the Refugee Action Coalition, shows Australia's regional processing centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Footage from within one of Australia's offshore detention facilities for asylum seekers reached its first international audience in London on October 9, 2017, with one of the filmmakers highlighting the plight of his co-director who remains inside the camp. The footage was shot on a smartphone by Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian who has spent four years in the camp since the boat he was trying to reach Australia on was intercepted by the authorities. Boochani had been invited by the British Film Institute (BFI) to attend the screening of his film, with the festival hosts praising the documentary as "brave, thoughtful and urgent filmmaking". / AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTION COALITION / Handout / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / REFUGEE ACTI

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600 detainees are set to be moved to three locations nearby but fear for their safety after threats of violence from locals


Manus stand-off: hundreds of asylum seekers defy relocation orders, barricade themselves in PNG detention centre

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}600 detainees are set to be moved to three locations nearby but fear for their safety after threats of violence from locals

600 detainees are set to be moved to three locations nearby but fear for their safety after threats of violence from locals