While he now lives safely and productively near Finland's capital of Helsinki, he is a prime example of why a parliamentary inquiry into this program on both the Australian mainland and offshore is needed urgently.

Support for such an inquiry, albeit with less powers than a royal commission, was formalised as ALP policy at the national conference in Brisbane in August.

It is now more pressing than ever, given the latest revelations about the inhumane treatment of refugees in PNG's capital of Port Moresby and the Australian government's claim that it is no longer responsible for their welfare.

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"The purpose of the protest was to prevent anyone inside from leaving", Peace Action Wellington spokeswoman Emma Cullen said.

"We're shutting them down for as long as we can … at least until the evening, to affect these people, and for these people to acknowledge and question what their government is doing," Cullen said, according to Stuff.

Three protesters chained themselves by the neck to the gates.

One of them, Helen Lyttelton, said she was protesting for the people without food and medication and said they were an incredibly vulnerable population.

"We're here to show them we don't need Australia's permission to take on refugees. All they're seeking is safety ... and they've been unable to leave."

She hoped high commission staff, when they tried to leave, would have some empathy for what the Manus Island detainees had experienced.

"For years, they've been unable to move. They've not had freedom of movement for up to four years."

Earlier this month, the word 'SHAME' was scrawled across the high commission's driveway and a poster declaring 'Justice for refugees' was posted on the front gate.

An unidentified liquid was also splashed over the sign at the front of the building.

Source

• Stuff
• NewsTalkZB
• SBS
• Asia Pacific Report
• Image: Stuff

"It is time to find an alternative and conscionable solution, including accepting New Zealand's offer of resettlement and bringing the remaining detainees on Manus Island to Australia," said Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen.

A number of Catholic agencies in Australia have also voiced concern in a joint statement.

They are urging all Australians to express their concern for the circumstances of the men on Manus Island by contacting their local federal MP to demand an immediate change "to this expensive, unworkable and unprincipled policy."

The Statement makes the following points:

• The men on Manus Island have the right to food, water and shelter; to freedom and liberty; to be free from inhumane and degrading treatment, and to seek and receive protection.
• The Australian Government is legally and morally responsible for the lives of these men who have been arbitrarily and indefinitely held in limbo for more than four years.
• The only humane resolution to the current impasse is for the Australian Government to bring every refugee and person seeking asylum on Manus Island to Australia where they can be permanently resettled or have their claims processed in safety and with dignity.
• Offshore processing for the purposes of deterrence, whether in PNG, Nauru or anywhere else, is inhumane and unsustainable, and must cease to be a part of any Australian policy.

The Catholic agencies that signed the statement are:

Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA), Catholic Social Services Australia, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Australia, and Jesuit Social Services (JSS).

Source

• Diocese of Parramatta
• Australian Jesuits
• Image: The New Daily

She says there is no help available for people suffering from mental illness.

Last week an apparent suicide of a Tamil detainee was closely followed by that of an Iranian refugee, both of whom were living in the East Lorengau Transit Centre on Manus.

Keogh said she spent a day trying to get treatment for another Sri Lankan refugee who was having a psychotic episode.

The situation was dire. "I think it's high level. If the people at the hospital are saying there are three cases of psychosis at the moment - well, with psychosis, you don't know what they're going to do next," she said.

"If people can run naked through the town and no-one's allowed to apprehend them or do anything with them, the police could put them in the lock-up which would only add to their trauma. Any of those three could die imminently."

Keogh told RNZ that when they asked the people at the Transit Centre for help they said "Look, we're sorry but there is no psychiatric help at that hospital, there's nowhere on this island, there's nowhere you can take him, we can't do anything."

Australian and PNG authorities are moving ahead with plans to close the Manus Island detention centre by October 31.

The refugees inside have been told to move to alternative accommodation, mainly the transit centre, so the detention centre can be shut down.

"When they were in the camp [detention centre] anyone in a psychiatric state had people monitoring them and watching them the whole time. Here [at Lorengau] they don't have it," said Keogh.

Source

• RNZ
• Sunshine Coast Daily
• ABC News
• Image: Canberra Times

The Executive Committee of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have issued a statement condemning what is happening to asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru.

"Callousness can never be the proper response to human tragedy."

"We applaud PNG's Supreme Court's decision that the Manus Island detention centre is unconstitutional and illegal and we trust the Australian and other authorities will act swiftly in implementing a humane plan of rehabilitation for the detainees."

The executive committee also:

• Congratulated and offered encouragement to the Governor of Port Moresby on the development of this city and his commitment to justice, integrity and service in civic leadership
• Expressed their satisfaction that The Papua New Guinea Government has recently passed a Bill agreeing to implement the strategies proposed by the Paris COP21 meeting about climate change and sustainable development.
• Expressed support for the West Papuan people's desire to participate fully in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG)

The Executive Committee of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania ( Australia, New Zealand, PNG/SI, CEPAC) is currently meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Source

• Supplied
• Image: Supplied

The future of the detainees still remains uncertain.

They have the option to settle in PNG or return home.

The latest figures show just one in four transferees are opting to fly back to their countries of origin.

For now the Ministry of Immigration in Papua New Guinea says all asylum seekers detained on Manus Island are now free to come and go from the processing centre.

For the past three weeks detainees have been free to wander town, go fishing, to the beach and to the market.

Tension between the locals and the detainees is growing.

"They are Muslims, we are Christians, the world is at war over religion, and I do not think we can live peacefully," said Koporou clan chief and prominent local businessman Mochon Peter.

He said the asylum seekers had no respect for what they are given.

"Send them back," the Lombrum landowners committee chairman said.

"No option. Send them back to their own country."

"We don't want them. They are cheating us."

Peter said the asylum seekers were "ungrateful illegals" who are "treated like kings".

Peter, who owns Juromo wholesale and retail stores on Manus, said the "massive boatloads of cash" spent by Australia had been an economic windfall for his isolated island community.

"It has been a blessing for Manus," he said.

"It has brought luck and development for Manus."

Many locals are part of the 2000-odd support staff at the site and there are now new sealed roads, a brand new market, a hospital project, an airport upgrade and plans for a new police station.

"Now everyone is in the dark about the future."

"Many people will lose their jobs and feel much shame."

"The detainees are going around with locals girls, it's creating a lot of jealousy, they are drinking and smoking drugs. "

"If they walk the streets at night PNG people will chop them up with a bush knife. It's not safe."

He said many locals felt resentful towards the "illegals" compared to the dire poverty of his own people.

"Australia should look after its own backyard first," said Mr Peter.

Source

• www.news.com.au
• couriermail.com.au
• Image: Brian Cassey/News Corp Australia

Dozens of Australians sit up all night, every single night, comforting asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. You don't have to, therefore the task falls to the advocates.

Let me tell you what this entails, since your statement blaming advocates for suicide attempts - of actually encouraging self-harm - suggests you are clearly unaware.

It is mind-blowingly hot on Manus and Nauru during the day, so our friends there try to sleep. We, safely onshore, sit tensely in the evenings, watching for the little green light that signals people have come online.

When someone doesn't show up, there is a flurry of frantic calls between advocates; when did you last hear from them? What did they say? Are they in danger of self-harm? Who do you know in the same compound?

The result of these calls can be anything from relief upon locating our friend, safe and sound, or that which is becoming more common - they've harmed themselves and are in International Health and Medical Services, or have been beaten by guards and thrown into solitary confinement.

We cannot sleep, Mr Dutton. We can close our eyes, but the horrors we are witnessing don't go away. And on the rare occasions we actually do get to sleep, we know there are no guarantees that our loved ones will be unharmed when we wake.

I will never forget the last night I actually slept for eight hours - it was in September last year, and I woke to discover one of my dearest friends on Manus had stabbed himself in the neck.

He apologised over and over again, he knew he'd broken his promise not to hurt himself, but after three years of incarceration, beatings from the guards and locals, as well as untreated medical conditions, the psychological damage means we cannot expect them to always have control over their behaviours.

He has since tried to drown himself, and I live in constant fear of losing him. Continue reading

• Sarah Smith is a refugee advocate for asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island.