Transcript
PNG and Australia's Governments spoke of their commitment to helping refugees this week at a refugee summit in New York. It was in stark contrast to messages from men stuck on Manus who blame both governments for what they call the prolonged mental and physical torture of being held on the island. These men, the majority of whom have so far been found to be genuine refugees, were told by Canberra that they'll never settle in Australia. Resettlement in PNG is however not a viable option for most of them. Still, PNG's Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato told the summit the men were free to move around and encouraged to prepare for resettlement in PNG.
RIMBINK PATO: Papua New Guinea is now in the process of closing the Manus processing centre in close co-operation with Australia. This follows the decision of the Supreme Court of our country in April 2016 which ruled that the establishment of the centre was unconstitutional in the context of breach of personal liberties and freedoms of those held at the centre.
The PNG government has however this week applied to dismiss a local court application by refugees on Manus Island for compensation and repatriation to Australia. It's the latest legal hurdle in attempts to have the two governments comply with April's ruling. PNG's Immigration Department argues the application by hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers should be dismissed because it wasn't personally signed by them. However the refugees' lawyer Ben Lomai says that his signature on their behalf is legitimate. He describes the government's move as vexatious.
BEN LOMAI: And the full bench correctly stated that the orders are very clear. Why can't the Australian and Papua New Guinea government do something quickly? We were about to go and get an order for a summary judgement and here they come, Johnny-come-lately, come in and file this application and state that we don't have the jurisdiction to sign. This is ridiculous, you know.
As the case to have the refugees and asylum seekers released and returned to Australia drags on, the wellbeing of these men continues to suffer. Even for the 43 men sent from Manus to Australia for medical treatment, there's no indication that Canberra will allow them to apply for protection visas, according to Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition.
IAN RINTOUL: But it's also clear that they can't return people who are in Australia back to Manus. There is an obvious contradiction in the government's position. And it says a lot of things publically which it doesnt do in private, if you like: we'll return opeople, they'll never resettle (here). The fact is Manus will close and the people that are in Australia are certainly not going to be sent back there.
Mr Rintoul says he thinks that ultimately the Australian government will have no choice but to allow them to apply and stay. Meanwhile, he says despite around 96% of the men on Manus being genuine refugees, there are signs that a number of them are being pressured to return to their home countries.
