Refugees held on Manus Island as part of Australia’s offshore detention regime have spoken out about their plight, as pressure grows on the government to resolve the impasse.
Getup and the Human Rights Law Centre on Saturday launched a new campaign following a recent visit to Manus Island to view the Australian-run detention and resettlement facilities.
The Manus Island detention centre is to shut down after it was found to be unlawful, although the timeline for this closure is uncertain. It remains unclear what will happen to the men found to be refugees and whether they will be resettled in Papua New Guinea or elsewhere.
The organisations have published the statements of several of the men held on Manus.
Imran Mohammad said: “learned English by writing a page of my life story every single day. Each day I would take that page to a teacher in the camp to correct my mistakes. I have been here for three years, and my story is now over 1100 pages long.”
Nayser Ahmed, who has a family that lives in Australia, said: “The thing I miss the most about my kids ... is sitting down for dinner together. Every night we would sit together and eat dinner together. That is important for a family. Every night here I think of that.”
The Human Rights Law Centre’s director of legal advocacy, Daniel Webb, interviewed the men held on Manus Island in person as part of the recent visit.
“I spent my time on Manus Island interviewing the men our government has warehoused there for the last three years. I met some truly amazing people. I met one man who speaks seven languages, two of which he taught himself while in detention. I met another guy who didn’t speak a word of English when we first sent him to Manus but who has now written a book,” he said.
“They are men of different ages, from different parts of the world and with different stories to tell. But what they all have in common is they are tired. After three years of fear, violence and limbo, they are completely exhausted. It’s time to bring them here.”
Webb’s trip was not without incident. During his visit to the island, two refugees were attacked with machetes by a group of seven local men. Webb witnessed the aftermath of the assault along with freelance photojournalist Matthew Abbott. Police demanded that the photos taken by Abbott of the attack be erased.
Guardian Australia has published on Saturday a photoessay of Abbott’s visit to the island.
Getup’s human rights director, Shen Narayanasamy, urged the government to allow the men held on Manus to come to Australia.
“These men include engineers, poets, soccer players and cooks. They cut hair, they write books and the have dreams of being part of our community,” she said. “They fled dangerous places in search of a better life, for safety, and it is time we allowed them to come to Australia.”
Malcolm Turnbull’s government is facing growing pressure over Australia’s two remote offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island.
Guardian Australia’s publication of the Nauru files renewed attention to Australia’s offshore detention facilities and the prolonged holding of the men, women and children held there.
The information disclosed in the 2000 incident reports published drew strong domestic and international condemnation.
The Labor party has also launched a push for a Senate inquiry, which is likely to succeed.
