UN warns of ‘humanitarian emergency’ at PNG camp abandoned by Australia
The United Nations (UN) has warned of a “humanitarian emergency” unfolding at the site of a former Australian-run detention camp for refugees in Papua New Guinea (PNG), calling on authorities in Canberra to immediately take action to stop the emerging crisis.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on Thursday that the situation in the Manus Island camp was “increasingly tense and unstable.”
The UNHCR said there were inadequate accommodation and food supplies inside the abandoned detention center, which houses hundreds of asylum seekers.
A PNG court had ruled the camp illegal, and a closure had been scheduled for October 31. But instead of resettling the asylum seekers, Australian authorities simply abandoned the camp and the individuals who were being held in detention there.
Local authorities then called on the asylum seekers at the camp to move to three new sites; however, 600 refugees have barricaded themselves inside the camp fearing violence by the locals.
Since the closure, electricity and drinking water supplies to the site have been cut.
“Australia remains responsible for the well-being of all those moved to Papua New Guinea until adequate, long-term solutions outside the country are found,” the statement said.
“As the days go by, where they have no water and no electricity, I think the tensions will just go up higher,” UNHCR representative Lam Nai Jit told AFP from the island, noting that the weather was “extremely hot and humid” there.
Reports said dozens of men worked during the night and used torches and wooden poles to dig deep holes to find water.
Lawyers for the detainees have filed a lawsuit with the PNG’s Supreme Court to have the services restored.
Australia had previously announced plans to resettle the asylum seekers in a third country, including the United States, but it was not clear if the resettlement plans would be carried out after the departure of the Australians.
Australian authorities have long maintained that even those attempting to arrive by boat and subsequently found to be genuine refugees would never be allowed to settle in the country.
Under the controversial refugee policy known as “Sovereign Borders,” Australia has sent such asylum seekers to camps on Manus and Nauru, in the South Pacific. The latter camp is still operating.
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