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Inquiry launched into PNG violence
A government inquiry is to be held into violent clashes on Manus Island that left one Iranian asylum seeker dead and scores of others severely injured.
Monday was the second day of violence in Papua New Guinea as tensions escalated between asylum seekers, the security forces, the local police and PNG residents, in what refugee advocates have described as a ''premeditated massacre'' on the island.
On Tuesday night, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison conceded it was unclear whether the attacks happened inside or outside the detention centre. ''I can't give you an absolute position on that as there are some conflicting reports at the moment and once those are resolved and the reasons for those conflicts then I'd be in a position to report on it,'' he said at a news conference in Canberra.
Mr Morrison said an independent review would investigate the violence. The secretary of his department, Martin Bowles, would "initiate a full review into this incident in the same way the former government commissioned previous reviews into incidents".
Tension had been simmering for weeks in the centre, as asylum seekers became more anxious about their future and when they would be processed. In a meeting on Sunday night they were told that if they were not found to be a refugee, neither the Australian nor PNG governments would help them resettle in PNG.
That night 35 people escaped the centre, wielding bed posts as weapons in protest at the news and 19 people were injured. On Monday afternoon, the tension had become so great asylum seekers were contacting refugee advocates saying they were fearful of a violent attack by PNG police and angry locals.
By early Tuesday morning one asylum seeker had been killed, one had been shot and more than 77 people lay bloodied, cut and severely injured. Four asylum seekers have since been transferred to Port Moresby, while one has been transferred to Australia.
The president of the Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, said Australia was not upholding its international responsibility to asylum seekers, and also called for an inquiry.
''The primary obligation that Australia has is to offer protection for asylum seekers and we cannot abdicate that responsibility by sending people to a third country, in this case Papua New Guinea.''
On Tuesday morning Mr Morrison warned asylum seekers of dangerous conditions outside the centre. ''Those who are breaching the perimeter fence and going out of the centre, then this is a disorderly environment in which there is always great risk,'' he told reporters in Darwin.
But there is some doubt where the Iranian asylum seeker died.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said in a statement that the Iranian man died from ''serious injuries sustained during the fight at the centre''.
Mr O'Neill said the incident was ''most regrettable'' and vowed to investigate. Anyone found to be breaking PNG law would be prosecuted, he said.
His spokesman later said the Iranian man had been ''in or around the centre'' when he was killed. He could not say whether the man was inside the perimeter.
The security firm G4S, which manages the detention centre, denied claims of attacks inside the centre. In a statement, G4S said it had removed all ''non-essential'' staff from the compound, along with asylum seekers who were not participating in the protest. The statement said the asylum seekers were injured once they left the detention centre.
The opposition spokesman for immigration, Richard Marles, calling for an inquiry into the incident. ''It's becoming apparent that Manus Island is melting down on Minister Morrison's watch,'' he said on ABC 24.
The Refugee Rights Action Network's Victoria Martin said: ''Last night's attack was a massacre. It was a pre-meditated attack on unarmed and defenceless asylum seekers, some of which have escaped war and are now being put back into, what is essentially a war zone. Manus Island is lawless.''
The Greens have demanded that the Manus Island centre be closed.
Greens leader Senator Christine Milne accused the government of ''bragging'' about poor conditions at the facility. ''Ministerial responsibility has to mean something and Scott Morrison has to stop hiding,'' Senator Milne said.
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