Opened 21 October 2001 | ||
 | ||
Similar Nauru Regional Processin, Christmas Island Immigrati, Parliament House - Canberra, High Court of Australia | ||
Refugee crisis manus island detention centre to close
The Manus Regional Processing Centre is one of 2 offshore Australian immigration detention facilities, located on Los Negros Island in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea, operated by Broadspectrum (formerly known as Transfield Services) on behalf of the Australian government. The centre is located on the PNG Navy Base Lombrum (previously a Royal Australian Navy base called HMAS Tarangau).
Contents
The Pacific Solution
The centre was originally established on 21 October 2001, as one of two Offshore Processing Centres (OPC). The other OPC was the Nauru detention centre. The OPC facilities were part of what became known as the "Pacific Solution", a policy of the Howard Government in Australia, which was implemented in the wake of the Tampa affair. The policy involved the excision of Australian external territories (Christmas Island, Ashmore and Cartier Islands and Cocos (Keeling) Island) and other islands in the Pacific Ocean—from the Australian migration zone. Unlawful maritime arrivals (boat people without visas seeking asylum in Australia) who arrived at these excised territories were transferred to the OPC facilities where they would stay while their claims for asylum were processed. The centres were managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Disuse
The Manus Regional Processing Centre fell into disuse in preference to the Nauru centre. In July 2003, the immigration department announced that the centre would be wound down and the remaining detainees would be granted asylum and resettled in Australia, however the centre would continue to be maintained in case the need for reactivation arose.
Aladdin Sisalem, a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian, fled Kuwait in 2000 and in December 2002 arrived at an island in the Torres Strait where he claimed asylum, and was sent to the Manus centre. For ten months, Sisalem was the sole detainee at the centre, with a small staff of guards and cleaners for company. In May 2004, he was resettled in Melbourne.
2008 closure
With the election of the Rudd Labor Government in 2007, the Manus Regional Processing Centre was formally closed in early 2008, fulfilling an election promise by Rudd to end the offshore processing system.
Regional Resettlement Arrangement
In 2012, a significant rise in the number of irregular maritime arrivals saw the "asylum issue" become a political liability for the government. The Gillard Government commissioned Angus Houston, former Chief of the Defence Force, to lead an expert panel to conduct a review of asylum arrangements. Among the 22 recommendations made in the Houston report was one to re-open the OPC facilities on Nauru and at the Manus Regional Processing Centre.
2012 re-opening
In November 2012, the Manus Regional Processing Centre was re-opened, due to the large volume of irregular maritime arrivals. The British services company G4S was responsible for its operation. In March 2014, the contract with G4S expired, and the Australian government entered into a 20-month contract worth AUD $1.22 billion with Broadspectrum (which operates the facility in Nauru) for facilities management including building maintenance and catering, with security provided by Wilson Security.
Death of Hamid Kehazaei
On 24 August 2014, 24 year old Iranian asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei sought medical treatment at the detention centre's clinic for an infected wound. Kehazaei's condition worsened and he could not be treated on the island. Medical staff sought his immediate evacuation, but permission was not granted until 26 August. Kehazaei was declared brain dead in a Brisbane hospital on 2 September 2016. With his family's permission, his life-support was switched off on 5 September 2016. An inquest into Kehazaei's death began in the Coroner's Court in Brisbane on 28 November 2016.
Declared illegal
On 26 April 2016, the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea found that the Centre breached the PNG constitution's right to personal liberty, and was thus illegal. It said:
Late on 27 April 2016, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announced that the processing centre would be closed. He issued a statement that in part said his government "will immediately ask the Australian Government to make alternative arrangements for the asylum seekers" and that "we did not anticipate the asylum seekers to be kept as long as they have been at the Manus Centre". He said that Papua New Guinea was proud to play an important role in stopping the loss of life due to people smuggling. O'Neill said negotiations with Australia would focus on the timeframe for the closure and for the settlement of legitimate refugees interested in staying in Papua New Guinea.
US resettlement deal
In November 2016 it was announced that a deal had been made with the United States to resettle people in detention on Manus (and Nauru) Islands.
2014 riots
On 17 February 2014, a series of protests by detainees at the centre escalated into a serious disturbance, during which and subsequent events resulted in the death of one detainee: 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati was murdered. Two detention centre workers, Joshua Kaluvia and Louie Efi, were sentenced for Berati's murder in April 2016.
Cornall Review
Robert Cornall was appointed in February 2014 to conduct 'a review into the circumstances surrounding the Manus centre disturbances' leading up to Berati's death with the primary focus on management of security at the centre. Cornall presented his review to the Immigration Department on 23 May 2014.
Cornall previously conducted an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the Manus Regional Processing Centre. He presented this report to the Department in late September 2013.
Numbers
As of 31 December 2016, there were 866 asylum seekers held in the processing centre. On 1 March 2017, it was reported that some were choosing to return to their countries of origin in response to offers of up to A$25,000 from the Australian government to leave voluntarily.