Weekly Refugee Posting 2: Manus Island
Feb. 28th, 2014 11:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamer_easyWhy were detainees protesting? According to the leaked PNG police report, in the week before the violence, asylum seekers had submitted the following list of questions to the detention centre's management:
Migration agent Liz Thompson, who resigned after Reza Berati's murder, describes a Kafka-esque situation in which asylum seekers would be given misleading or vague information: "We are told to tell people, to keep them focused on resettlement in PNG. That resettlement in PNG is what's going to happen. But they know that's not the case. They know that. They watch the news, they read the newspapers. They know what's going on around the camp. They know there's no decision from the Papua New Guinean Government on resettlement. So what that means is, you are never getting out of this camp, it is indefinite detention. While we play this charade... We knew this was ridiculous. But we were lying to people and we were told to keep that message going, to keep it clear." (Gay asylum seekers in particular cannot be resettled in PNG, where they would risk prison.) "I believe that what happened was completely predictable and that it was allowed to happen. That tensions were allowed to build up. That the misinformation was allowed to circulate. That people were allowed to be, you know - kind of driven into a frenzy about what was going to happen."
- Is there a process? What is it?
- How long are we going to be here?
- When will we have our freedom?
- Will transferees who have been deemed refugees in other countries be given priority in processing?
- Why is there no PNG Partnership?
- Some of the transferees have been interviewed some time ago, what is happening with our process? What is the hold-up?
- Who is responsible for us here on Manus - PNG or Australia?
- Why won't Immigration (department) allow media to come here and interview us?
- Will the Australian Government take responsibility for our mental health problems?
- The Playfair lawyer said there was a third country option, why can't we be sent to this other country?
- Why are our human rights not respected?
Migration agent Liz Thompson, who resigned after Reza Berati's murder, describes a Kafka-esque situation in which asylum seekers would be given misleading or vague information: "We are told to tell people, to keep them focused on resettlement in PNG. That resettlement in PNG is what's going to happen. But they know that's not the case. They know that. They watch the news, they read the newspapers. They know what's going on around the camp. They know there's no decision from the Papua New Guinean Government on resettlement. So what that means is, you are never getting out of this camp, it is indefinite detention. While we play this charade... We knew this was ridiculous. But we were lying to people and we were told to keep that message going, to keep it clear." (Gay asylum seekers in particular cannot be resettled in PNG, where they would risk prison.) "I believe that what happened was completely predictable and that it was allowed to happen. That tensions were allowed to build up. That the misinformation was allowed to circulate. That people were allowed to be, you know - kind of driven into a frenzy about what was going to happen."
