Live Reports RPC raid now
Police & navy have given the men in Manus RPC an hour to move
https://t.me/ManusAlert on Telegram
Behrouz Boochani
Abdul Aziz Adam
Earlier
URGENT BREAKING NEWS: 8.39AM
POLICE AND NAVY IN MANUS RPC FORCING MEN TO MOVE. 7.48AM 23 Nov 2017
ARRESTS
MEN ON ROOF
Manus Alert on Telegram
Appeal to restore services to #Manus RPC to go ahead while 420 men refuse to leave the centre.
Lynne Murphy, 23 November 2017 2am
Four hundred and twenty men remain in the now decommissioned Manus Island Refugee Processing Centre situated within the
Lombrum Naval Base.
Food, water and health services to the detention centre were withdrawn on 31 October 2017 by ICSA, Papua New Guinea's
immigration service.
On 7 November 2017, PNG lawyer Ben Lomai and Australian barrister Greg Barns brought an urgent application before the
PNG Supreme Court seeking the restoration of food, water and health services to the detention centre. Chief Justice Sir
Salamo Injia, the single judge on the bench, refused the application.
On 22 November 2017, Sir Salamo Injia allowed an appeal against that judgement to be heard before the three judge
Supreme Court full bench on 15 December 2017. The Chief Justice recused himself from the case.
Ben Lomai told reporter Nikala Sim that ICSA has directed PNG military and police not to remove the 420 men remaining at the facility.
Conditions are dire in the camp. Problems associated with the removal of electric power in a tropical climate were
compounded when ICSA deliberately destroyed all viable water sources.
After three weeks, the men suffer symptoms related to dehydration, severely restricted food intake, consuming and
bathing in contaminated water, uncontrolled mosquito infestations & improper sanitation.
The sudden withdrawal of essential health services poses an extreme risk to the health of the men.
There are no treatments for accidents, injuries or sudden health crises. Wounds become festering sores. Breaks and
sprains go untreated except with the most rudimentary of first aid supplies.
Before services were cut, many men were suffering serious health problems. Some, perhaps most, are directly related to
more than four and a half years indefinite incarceration on Manus Island by the Australian government.
Supplies have been depleted for essential medications in the treatment of the men's illnesses that include, but are not
limited to, epilepsy, diabetes, cardiac conditions, renal conditions, skin disorders, gatro-intestinal conditions and
mental illness.
The 420 men vow to remain in the centre, refusing to move to another prison. They say that after four and a half years,
they will only accept freedom in a safe country.
@ManusAlert