The U.N. has vehemently condemned Australia’s systematic treatment of asylum seekers and called for the State’s intervention in the escalating situation on Manus Island.
Australian immigration law dictates all asylum seekers that arrive in the country by boat be forcibly transferred to “offshore processing” facilities in either Papua New Guinea (Manus Island) or the Republic of Nauru. The current law which does not allow for the settlement or integration of refugees in Australia delegated the oversight of asylum operations to the military and has resulted in the detention of approximately 3,000 asylum seekers since the implementation of the law in 2013. From when the law first came into operation concerns have been raised as to the treatment of asylum seekers, the conditions in which they are detained and the effects of pro-longed indefinite detention on their mental and physical health. In April 2016 the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court declared the ‘Regional Processing Centre’ on Manus Island unlawful and the closure of the centre was set for 31 October 2017.
The U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has monitored developments regarding the closure of the centre in Manus Island closely. On 18 October the UNHCR released a statement highlighting the ‘profoundly troubling’ deterioration of conditions on Manus Island as essential services had been withdrawn from the centre in the weeks leading up to its scheduled closure leaving a critical deficit of health and welfare facilities, physical security, and accommodation. The UNHCR criticised the ‘lack of proper planning for the closure of the existing facilities, insufficient consultation with the Manusian community, and the absence of long-term solutions’ provided by both the Papua new Guinea and Australian Governments and urged Australia to take responsibility and address what it considered to be an ‘imminent humanitarian crisis’.
The water and electricity supplies to the centre on Manus Island were cut off on 31 October. This was despite approximately 600 refugees and asylum seekers continuing to reside in the centre. According to reports by the UNHCR those who refuse to leave do so out of fear for their safety as local communities have protested the relocation of the centre to Lorengau. Furthermore the construction of the centre in Lorengau is incomplete, with no running water or electricity as of 30 October. The last food rations for those on the island arrived on 29 October with food for two days and still with no water and electricity the remaining asylum seekers resorted to using bins as makeshift rain catchment systems. The UNHCR released a second statement on 2 November calling the Australian Government to prevent a ‘humanitarian emergency’.
Tensions between the Papua New Guinea authorities and the refugees who continue to reside on Manus Island have escalated considerably in the weeks since the sites closure. Police entered the facility to dismantle the makeshift shelters and rain catchment systems the refugees had resurrected and have repeatedly warned them to vacate the centre or be faced with a forcible eviction. 10 November saw the UNHCR release another statement calling the Papua New Guinea authorities to show ‘calm and restraint’ and warning that the forced movement of the refugees and asylum seekers would be ‘inappropriate’.
In conjunction with the UNHCR’s statements on the escalating situation the U.N. Human Rights Committee, the body responsible for monitoring Party State’s commitments to U.N. Convention, published their sixth periodic review of Australia. The review covered a range of areas for consideration of the Committee but delivered a particularly excoriating report on the country’s asylum processing procedures and practices. The report highlights the lack of protection against non-refoulement the current legal framework affords refugees, the poor and deteriorating conditions of the State’s ‘offshore processing’ facilities and the mandatory immigration detention of asylum seekers as particular concerns of the committee. The Committee determined that Australia by fact of its ‘effective control’ of the centres on Manus Island and Nauru was responsible for the conditions in the centres and the treatment of asylum seekers despite the claims that it was the responsibility of the Papua New Guinea and Nauru respectively. As a means of rectifying what they have noted as violations of the Convention the report recommended Australia end its offshore transfer arrangements and review and repeal some of its legislation, policies and practices.
Click here for the UNHCR statements.
Click here for the UNHRC review.