Papua New Guinea’s supreme court has ordered the PNG and Australian governments to present a “resettlement plan” for the 900 men detained on Manus Island.
The long-running case was adjourned yet again by the court on Tuesday, but only until Thursday, and the court has demanded that on that day representatives of the PNG and Australian governments – responsible for running the Manus Island detention centre – present a plan for the resettlement of the men still detained there.
According to the Australian parliamentary library, 98% of the men held on Manus whose asylum claims have been assessed have been found to be refugees with a “well-founded fear” of persecution in their homeland, and legally owed protection.
The Manus Island detention centre, in operation in its second iteration since 2012, has already been ruled “illegal and unconstitutional” by the PNG supreme court in April this year, in judgment of a separate legal challenge brought by the opposition leader, Belden Namah.
Despite some superficial changes to the detention regime since the court’s ruling, the 854 men held there remain in detention and are not free to leave of their own volition, or communicate freely with the outside world.
The PNG court has ruled that Australia has effective control of the detention centre, though the Australian government contests this and has consistently said it is not a party to the court proceedings.
A spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection told the Guardian on Wednesday, “The Australian government is aware of the matter but is not a party to the proceedings. Beyond this, it would not be appropriate to provide further comment as the matter remains before the court.”
Australian High Commission officials were in the Port Moresby courtroom on Tuesday.
The supreme court challenge, brought by the Port Moresby lawyer Ben Lomai, represents more than 750 men held on Manus and argues their ongoing incarceration breaches PNG’s constitutional guarantee of the right to liberty of all persons.
He is seeking to have the men returned to their “original port of entry”, which is Australia, and the men compensated for their unlawful detention.
Many of the men held on Manus have been there longer than three years.
Resettlement efforts within PNG have foundered, with only a handful of people relocated to communities across the country. Most have been forced to return to detention.
Lomai said following the court hearing, “I urge the Australian government to step up and honour its fair share of its responsibility in this offshore processing program on Manus. Their involvement will certainly relieve PNG government and its people from a huge political backlash and financial burden which would otherwise impact very badly on PNG’s economy and its political landscape internationally.
“It is very embarrassing, to say the least, for Australia to treat PNG as such.”
