December 12, 2014
More than 250 asylum seekers are on a hunger strike on Manus Island over their frustration at being held in detention for the past 17 months without being given any guarantee about their futures, Australian refugee advocates say.
The asylum seekers, all males and believed primarily from Iran, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq, have been protesting since last Wednesday.
Advocates said two of the men had sewn their lips shut in frustration over only 130 of 1,200 detainees having been processed. The two men were not identified by nationality but lip-sewing has become a frequent form of protest by Iranians seeking refugee status around the world.
Refugee Action Collective spokesman Chris Breen said those who had been granted refugee status had been offered a one-year temporary visa to stay in Papua New Guinea (PNG), the country of which Manus Island is a part. The refugees would need to apply for visa renewals annually.
They were given about US$55 a week for an undisclosed period of time and expected to find a job.
“They will be resettled, at least initially, in Loreangau on Manus Island where many will fear for their safety,” Breen said. Many local residents of Manus Island do not like the presence of the foreigners among them.
One of the detainees told the Refugee Action Collective that “people are collapsing everywhere, in rooms, in yard, toilets [and] bathrooms”, Breen said.
Asked about the hunger strike, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said: “There are peaceful demonstrations continuing.”
The hunger strike on Manus follows Morrison this week winning support in the Australian Senate for changes to asylum-seeker laws.
The bill that came into law Friday gives the government sweeping new powers at sea and will lead to more than 100 children in detention on Christmas Island being released into the community on temporary “protection visas.”
But the changes will not alter the circumstances of asylum seekers being held on Manus Island or on Nauru. They have been told they will never be settled in Australia.
Breen told Australia’s Fairfax Media that detainees on Manus Island were frightened of the local community. He urged Morrison to bring the detainees to Australia to be processed, which he said was the “only realistic and humane” option.
“Morrison’s backdown on releasing asylum seekers from Christmas Island only deepens the cruel, arbitrary nature of his immigration policy lottery,” he said. “Asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru arrived at the same time as those on Christmas Island, but they will not be released to the Australian mainland.”