Refugees in PNG traumatised after Port Moresby attack

Transcript

Asylum seekers in the Papua New Guinea capital want to be sent back to Manus island after their motel was attacked by a group of armed men.

Seventeen of the refugees were sent to Port Moresby for medical treatment, but following the attack they say they would feel safer back in the detention centre.

Ben Robinson Drawbridge has been following the story.

JAMIE TAHANA:  What can you tell us about the attack?

BEN ROBINSON DRAWBRIDGE:  I've been in contact with two of the Manus Island detainees: Siyavash Shakibnia, he's an Iranian Christian, he's currently in Port Moresby where he's been receiving medical treatment and Behrouz Bouchani the Kurdish Iranian journalist who's in Processing centre on Manus Island.  They've both told me roughly the same story. A group of four men, armed with guns, attacked the hotel at about 11 o'clock on Sunday night. Their intention seems to have been to rob the motel reception. At the time of the robbery, two of the 17 refugees who are at the motel, were in the yard outside the reception and they were ordered to lie on the ground by the robbers. One of the refugees was punched in the head.  I'm also told that men guarding the refugees were also taken hostage and money was taken from them, but I'm yet to verify that information. The robbers are alleged to have fired a shot at motel security staff as they departed in a waiting vehicle, but I'm told nobody was injured.

JT:  So the refugees who are staying at the motel, they're still there aren't they, so what's their situation following the attack?

BRD:  I'm told that the Iraqi man who was assaulted by the robbers, he wasn't badly hurt, but he's been traumatised by the incident and now has trouble sleeping because he's afraid the robbers will return.  I'm told there has been little increase in security measures at the motel, apart from a visit by a private security firm. I am trying to verify this with the PNG immigration authority.  However, Siyavash Shakibnia says he's lost confidence in the security guards from Port Moresby and he wants to go back to Manus Island.

SIYAVASH SHAKIBNIA:  The local guards, I think they are not really going to protect us. But when I'm back to the Manus I think it's better thean here. I'd rather to stay in Manus than here. Over there more safe than here. Over there we are inside the camp and then maybe the guards can protect us.

Siyavash Shakibnia says all 17 of the refugees in Port Moresby have asked to be returned to the facility on Manus Island and he thinks they could be taken back there as soon as this week.In the meantime, they've been told that it's not safe for them to leave the motel. They're allowed to leave, but if they go they've been told their security guards cannot guarantee their safety.

JT:  So Ben, in April the PNG Supreme Court ordered the closure of Manus Island detention centre but it's still operating, what's the situation there?

BRD:  The legal process continues, since detention at the centre was deemed illegal. The Lawyer Ben Lomai who is representing most of the refugees has applied to the court to award compensation to the refugees and to return them to Australia. Recently the court asked for the refugee status of all the roughly one thousand men kept on Manus Island to be determined. Tomorrow it seems Mr Lomai will make a further representation in the case, before the court reconvenes on the matter in August.