Transcript
Exactly one year since the PNG Supreme court ruled the detention of asylum seekers was unconstitutional, refugee advocates say, Azzam el Sheikh, could be deported on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance the barrister, Greg Barns, says Australia will be breaking international law by deporting him.
"Australia has an obligation under the United Nations conventions in relation to refugees, not to return a person to a situation where they may be tortured or subjected to cruel and unusual punishment or face the risk of death. There's also a broader right that individuals have not to be forcibly deported in circumstances where there is a high likelihood that those individuals will suffer immeasurably on their return."
The Australian department of immigration and border protection says the government of PNG has decided asylum seekers found not to be refugees must depart.
But Greg Barns says the refugee determination process on Manus Island was deeply flawed.
He says a recent report by the Australian Senate supports his conclusion that the decision to deport Mr el Sheikh is Australia's.
"The Australian government has been beastly careless for a number of years now, about the rights of individuals it deports. It's yet another example of how Australia for the last two decades has become a rogue state when it comes to the treatment of refugees and when it comes to the treatment of asylum seekers and deportation."
The first two attempts to move Azzam el Sheikh from Manus to Port Moresby were thwarted by the asylum seeker's physical resistance and acts of self harm.
Badly injured, Mr el Sheikh was tossed into a police cell where he went on hunger strike and appealed for clemency from the Australian government on Youtube.
The Refugee Action Collective's, Margaret Sinclair, says Mr el Sheikh was in no condition to resist the third attempt.
"There was maybe a couple of dozen different security forces escorting Azzam onto the plane and by that stage because he had 12 days of hunger strike and a number of injuries he couldn't make any resistance. It's a very strange thing to have people in jail when they haven't been charged with any offences. That was actually the basis of the Papua New Guinea court decision. Detaining people in a jail without charge contravenes the constitution of Papua New Guinea."
Margaret Sinclair says Mr el Sheikh has been in Port Moresby's Bomana prison since April the 11th and has not been given access to a lawyer or treatment for a suspected broken ankle and broken ribs.
The Manus Island detainee, Naji, has been in contact with Mr el Sheikh and says his friend has been left in prison to rot.
"His health is getting worse and especially his foot. He hasn't got any medicine yet and still without showering and in the same clothing since they took him from here. The doctor in the prison said he needs hospital and I think a couple of days ago the Red Cross visited him and they wanted to take him to hospital but they couldn't I don't know what happened there. All I can say about Azzam is he will be in danger if they send him back by force."
The refugee advocate Margaret Sinclair says it would be unethical for any airline to transport Azzam el Sheikh out of Papua New Guinea.
