Sydney: Protests were held on Friday in Australia in support of refugees and asylum seekers languishing in a decommissioned detention facility in Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island.
The protest outside a Sydney fundraising event for ex-prime minister Tony Abbott saw violent scenes with protesters clashing with police and arriving guests, including Abbott’s sister.
About 800 people had gathered in the suburb of Redfern, with protesters chanting slogans including “Close down Manus,” “Bring them here,” and “Stop the torture.”
A minor scuffle broke out when Christine Forster, Abbott’s sister, had her jacket ripped as she tried to make her way through the crowd. She was then given police security.
Other attendees of Abbott’s Liberal Party were also heckled. Some had tomatoes thrown at them. New South Wales police said at least one person had been arrested during the protest.
Lee Rhiannon, a parliamentarian with the Greens Party, defended the protesters, saying the police “mishandled the situation” in Redfern.
She also spoke at the protest and asked the government to immediately bring the refugees to Australia.
“We are here to support the 600 men on Manus Island. I am angry. Many people are angry about the situation,” she said.
In Melbourne, more than 1,000 protesters on Friday night brought the city to a standstill for several hours.
Hundreds of men have been huddled in the Australian-run facility for more than a week after it was shut down upon orders from PNG’s Supreme Court. Water, electricity and food supplies have been cut.
The refugees, living in squalid condition, have refused to move to three new temporary facilities — parts of which are not yet completed — near the island’s main town of Lorengau due to fears of being attacked by locals, which has happened in the past.
The PNG government on Thursday warned refugees and asylum seekers to leave within two days or they will use force to move them. They destroyed shelter and water storage in the camp on Friday.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) asked Papua New Guinea authorities to “show calm and restraint in the context of the closure” of the camp.
“UNHCR is urging that a humane approach is taken now in an increasingly complex situation,” a UN statement said on Friday.
“Forced movement of these refugees and asylum-seekers is inappropriate and should be avoided.”
Videos received by dpa showed police and immigration officials entering the compound of the camp, tearing down makeshift shelters and releasing water from storage tanks and rubbish bins.
The detainees had constructed the shelters as the permanent structures were too hot to live in after electricity to the camp was cut last week.
“We had built the shelter to provide shade and cover from tropical sun and rain,” said Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish-Iranian refugee in the camp. Authorities returned a second time and destroyed water storage, Boochani said.
Earlier, an Australian minister said the refugees were “squatting.”
Christopher Pyne, a cabinet minister, said Friday the men refused to take options available, including moving to new facilities or return to their country of origin.
“All those people in Manus Island who are at that detention centre are effectively squatting there,” Pyne told broadcaster Channel Nine.
“Activists in Australia telling them to stay there and they will get to Australia are lying to them and that is, unfortunately, the situation,” Pyne said.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the new facilities are fully-equipped and adequate, contrary to what the United Nations has said.
— dpa
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