Dreamer Easy

Papua New Guinea's police and military have entered the detention centre, destroying the refugees' property, their rainwater tanks, and demanding phones. Two refugees inside the centre have collapsed - one is the epileptic man deprived of his medications, one is a suspected heart attack victim.

PNG authorities enter Manus Island processing centre, amid reports of violence (SMH, 23 November 2017)

Manus Island: PNG police move into detention centre and tell refugees to leave (GA, 23 November 2017)

ETA:

Peter Dutton confirms PNG police have arrested 'small number' of asylum seekers (ABC, 23 November 2017)

More than 300 men still in Manus detention centre after PNG attempt to move them (GA, 23 November 2017)

Refugee and journalist Behrouz Boochani released after arrest on Manus (GA, 23 November 2017)

An interview with Manus detainee Walid (The Final Straw radio, Ashville NC, 19 November 2017).

Behrouz Boochani: "Immigration took water from well to test it. If really worried about our health u wouldn't have put rubbish in well."

Man on Manus faces deportation order despite 'real risk' of torture or death (GA, 21 November 2017). This is the refugee who recently collapsed and requires medical treatment not available on Manus; instead, he remains in the new Hillside detention centre, where the electricity is still off. Papua New Guinea's immigration authority has told him that he is not a refugee, that if sent home he may be tortured or killed (in other words, that he is a refugee), that his deportation has been ordered, and that he will not be deported. He also obviously faces a real risk of death on Manus. Another horror story of the power of bureaucracy over human life.

Shocking footage reveals refugees living in squalor at former Manus Island detention centre (SMH, 20 november 2017). "After being there, I can understand why they're not moving. For the first time in five years, they're not being humiliated, they're not being controlled."

Australia's Manus media machine hits Kiwi shores (stuff.co.nz, 21 November 2017). "We unwittingly fan the flames too. By mid-week our talkback suddenly filled with unsubstantiated claims that these men were criminals and deviants, a more convenient narrative than the UNHCR-documented abuses of their Australian captors. By Friday, Australian intelligence ''leaked" that Manus men were alleged child sex abusers and drug takers. Conveniently, it was confirmed by the Australian Government immediately. What's in store this week – crimes against humanity perpetrated by the children on Nauru?"

The Manus Crisis on Channel 10's The Project (20 November 2017).

The eyes of the world are watching now: This is Manus Island, a photoessay from the New York Times (18 November 2017). An additional pressure on Manus has been the arrival of people displaced by climate change.

Offshore detention horrors hidden to 'numb public into submission': lawyer (news.com.au, 16 November 2017) Daniel Webb: "We’re not talking about conditions that are a bit uncomfortable; we’re talking about a level of suffering and torment that is so severe that it creates a risk of suicide that is so ever-present that every single guard for every single minute of every single day has got to have a Hoffman knife on them ready to cut someone down who’s trying to kill themselves."

Behrouz Boochani reports that locals angered by noisy generators at the new Hillside Haus detention centre came in and turned them off, leaving detainees without light or air conditioning. Police instructed security at the site not to turn them back on.

Australian activist Phoebe Crane ended her courageous hunger strike after 37 days.

Manus Island: AMA calls on Australia to let doctors help refugees (GA, 18 November 2017)

Australia accused of medical negligence on Manus Island (Radio NZ, 17 November 2017). The suspected heart attack victim was told the tests he needs would be a waste of money.

Fears Manus health services will struggle to cope with hundreds of refugees (SBS, 15 November 2017)

'We don't want them here if they are unhappy': simmering tensions on Manus Island (SMH, 18 November 2017). This is a rare chance to hear the voices of locals on Manus and to get a more detailed picture of what it's like there. The detention centre has been a very mixed blessing. (ETA: Also available on author Mark Isaac's site.)

New Zealand says it will only resettle refugees with Australia's agreement.

Behrouz Boochani reports that the refugee who collapsed with a suspected heart attack has been in the Hillside camp for two days without treatment.

Senator Nick McKim reports that the Australian Senate has instructed Prime Minister Turnbull to accept New Zealand's offer.

Meanwhile, NZ is being urged not to wait for Australia's permission. Apparently NZ could take 250 or even all 600-ish of the refugees if they chose to, with the assistance of NZ and Australian NGOs.

Manus Island: PNG authorities will not use force to remove men from closed detention centre today (ABC, 11 November 2017). About 90 men left the centre yesterday, with about 400 continuing the protest.

400 Manus detainees told they will be moved in days, journalist claims (GA, 11 November 2017). Behrouz Boochani says that the men in the other centres report that conditions are worse there, and that they're being prevented from leaving.

'We don't want to see any violence': Peter Dutton's warning as PNG authorities dismantle Manus (SMH, 10 November 2017). Merely depriving people of drinking water apparently doesn't count as "force" or "violence", even though dehydration is extremely dangerous.

The human touch: Australian eyes that 'can't look away' from Manus (SMH, 11 November 2017). "Contrary to the accusations made by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton that advocates are telling asylum seekers on Manus Island or elsewhere what to do, their long-time supporters are extremely worried about the men's wellbeing and safety."

Behrouz Boochani tweets that the fences at the detention centre are being removed.

PNG threatens to 'apprehend' protesting Manus refugees (SBS, 8 November 2017) "The 'ringleaders' in a stand-off at the Manus Island detention centre have been warned by the Papua New Guinea government to move on or face being 'apprehended'."

According to a notice posted at the camp, the detainees have two days to leave or be arrested.

24 Refugees Moved to New Transit Centre (PNG Post-Courier, 8 November 2017) According to this article, it was the Supreme Court's decision not to re-open the centre which prompted the refugees to move. Behrouz Boochani tweets that it was only 15 refugees, not 24, and they moved because they were ill.

Via the Combined Refugee Action Group on Facebook, the Daily Telegraph (!) reports on conditions at the new accommodations: "Half-finished security fences, incomplete sewerage works and demountable buildings still to be secured — this is what is being offered to nearly 600 asylum seekers who are refusing to leave the closed down detention centre on Manus Island." They have photos of the incomplete accommodation, directly contradicting the Australian government's insistence that it's all ready and waiting. There's a lot of detail here which other media haven't reported - such as that roads used by local residents to reach their homes run through the new accommodations! (ETA: Peter Dutton doubled down on the falsehood.)

The Night We Tried To Save One Life Among Hundreds Of Starving Men (Huffington Post, 8 November 2017). Behrouz Boochani reports on the effort to get help for the refugee who collapsed with a heart attack. On Twitter, Boochani reports that the man has been seen by IHMS and forcibly sent to one of the new camps. According to IHMS, he requires treatment in Australia.

Greens Senator Nick McKim makes a critical point about the government's deceptions: "But the biggest lie of all is that the boats have stopped. On the Turnbull government’s own evidence, there are still turnbacks happening in the waters off northern Australia. We simply do not know how many boats have sunk and people drowned before they were noticed by Australian authorities. Or how many people have been forced back to the countries they are fleeing to face death, torture or persecution. All that has been achieved is the removal of the drownings from our television screens."

Journalist Behrouz Boochani is constantly updating from the detention centre on Twitter. As I type this he has recently reported the promise that a doctor will be sent to the camp; that IHMS has refused to treat the suspected heart attack victim, who requires overseas treatment; that a refugee with "severe kidney stones" has been "crying with pain"; and that that a second refugee has returned from the new accommodation.

Manus is the most confronting place I have seen – but I still needed to go back (GA, 6 November 2017). Journalist Matthew Abbott published photos of refugees beaten by a local mob on Manus last year and was stopped at the airport last week on his way back to report on the current crisis.

PNG warns services can't be reconnected at Manus Island centre, urges detainees to move (SMH, 6 November 2017). Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court will rule tomorrow morning on whether cutting off services breaches the country's constitution.

Manus Island refugee crisis and the Australian media (Al Jazeera, 3 November 2017) - ponders why Phoebe Crane's hunger strike hasn't gained the Australian media's attention.

ETA: Has Jacinda Ardern failed her first international test of leadership? (New Zealand Herald, 6 November 2017). "Instead of putting pressure on the Australian Government to allow New Zealand to take refugees from Manus Island, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern seems to have capitulated entirely to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the issue." NZ could make its own deal with PNG and embarrass Australia and PNG both.

There are snap rallies on in Sydney and Melbourne tomorrow, Saturday 4 November.

Manus is a landscape of surreal horror | The breath of death on Manus Island: starvation and sickness (GA, 3 November 2017) Behrouz Boochani's diary continues. He describes the helpless alarm when the epileptic detainee has a seizure, which makes me worry he does not have his medication.

The military are stopping donated food from reaching the detainees (some is getting in).

Local police on Manus Island say they will not use force to move the detainees. The danger, then, is that the navy or the Mobile Squad will do so.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representatives, who inspected the new accommodation on Monday this week, report that: "If all 600 individuals were to leave immediately, many would not find adequate or sufficient accommodation elsewhere. The East Lorengau Regional Transit Centre was only intended for temporary accommodation and has limited capacity. There is no security fence at 'West Lorengau Haus' or 'Hillside Haus' in the Ward 1 area of Lorengau. UNHCR observed on 30 October that construction of 'West Lorengau Haus' is incomplete. Containers are surrounded by mud and do not have electrical or water connections as yet. Construction is being significantly hampered by rain."

Manus Island asylum seeker returns to detention centre after walking 20km from alternate accommodation (ABC, 2 November 2017) We don't know why yet (though we can guess).

The world is watching: Australia has stranded hundreds of refugees on remote Manus Island (Washington Post, 2 November 2017) | What is happening on Manus Island, where Australia has stranded hundreds of refugees? The detainee crisis explained. (Pittsburg Post-Gazette, 2 November 2017 - originally from the NYT)

Let me put forward some uncertain predictions about this crisis, which could so easily have been avoided. In the absence of food, clean water, working toilets, cooling, and medical care, and the plentiful presence of mosquitoes, it seems likely there will be a serious outbreak of sickness at the centre. I hope that I'm right in thinking that PNG does not want to and will not use force to relocate the men, which would be a losing proposition for them whatever the results. Australia will once again reject New Zealand's offer to take some of the refugees; but PNG and NZ may strike their own deal, independent of Australia. In any case, construction will eventually be completed at the new camps, and the surviving refugees will feel safe enough to move there. So the question becomes how many refugees will escape Manus as a result of this mess, and how many will die because of it.