SYDNEY, Jan 20: A protest involving hundreds of asylum seekers at an Australian immigration detention centre in Papua New Guinea, some of whom had sewn their lips shut in protest, has ended without serious violence, authorities in both countries said today.
Australia uses offshore detention centres in Papua New Guinea and the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru to process would-be refugees trying to reach the country, often in unsafe boats after paying people-smugglers in Indonesia. The detention centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea was the scene of riots in February 2014, in which one asylum seeker was killed and more than 70 injured after residents overran the camp, attacking detainees. The protests began last week after the refugees were told they would be moved into new accommodation, which they feared would make them more vulnerable to attack by Papua New Guineans opposed to their presence, and had escalated in recent days.
Journalists are barred from visiting Manus Island, so information about the protests cannot be verified independently.
A spokesman for Papua New Guinea’s chief migration officer, Mataio Rabura, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that a peaceful end to the protests had been negotiated.
Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton seemed to contradict that statement after footage smuggled out of the camp and seen by Reuters appeared to show riot police forcing their way into the compound.
(AGENCIES)
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