Our entire refugee problem is now concentrated on the fate of six hundred men who are staging a mutiny on Manus Island. The Australian built refugee centre has now been closed for six days and these men are refusing to move to a new facility under construction in a suburb with surrounding Papua New Guinea housing. The refugees claim to be fearful for their own safety because of a poor relationship with the native population.
What is totally unacceptable is the standard of living that now exists. Both the power and water have been cut off and the refugees are living on whatever rainwater they manage to catch and store in wheelie bins. They are being refused food supplies to starve them into accepting the move and charitable organizations trying to reach them are being turned back by police. The medical facility has been withdrawn and as a result those on medication are now not only cut off from supply, but isolated from medical help if their condition deteriorates to an actual emergency - and all this is being covered by the world media.
There seems to be a very reasonable doubt that the new detention centre under construction is ready for occupation. It seems to consist of a number of transportable buildings simply dumped in a large mud hole and the site of the old centre has reverted to use by the Papua New Guinea military. The military have promised that the detainees will not be moved by force.
This situation is rapidly reaching crisis point. We have an agreement with America to repatriate 1250 of our refugees in exchange for a number of theirs but this is progressing at glacial speed. The plan is not popular with the US President and the vetting process has so far resulted in just 54 people being resettled. Now New Zealand has offered to take one hundred and fifty refugees, but that offer has been rejected.
The problem is that there are vast hordes of stateless refugees in transit camps in Indonesia and Malaysia who hope to settle in Australia and the only thing stopping the people smugglers from enticing them onto boats and making the journey to either Christmas island or the Australian coastline is the certainty that they would end up endlessly confined in a remote camp somewhere other than Australia.
The Australian government fears that even settling 150 in New Zealand would send the message that forced arrivals in Australia are likely to eventually be settled somewhere and enable the people smugglers to fill their boats with desperate people prepared to take a risk on the high seas. We could face an unsustainable flood of immigrants trying to force their way into this country.
The immediate danger is what happens to those six hundred men existing in a closed camp that is not providing food or medical facilities. There is both risk of physical confrontation with the NG police or military or even the possibility of a mass suicide attempt to try and resolve the situation. They are people rejected by Australia and eventually their fate rests in our hands.
There is a degree of support within Australia for a policy change to bring those six hundred here and get them settled, but a resumption of boat people landing on our shores would be politically rejected. Such a move would be political suicide and is unlikely to happen.
Perhaps some hard line thinkers hope that confrontation may lead to a massacre that removes this problem. That might well have been the solution a century or so ago, but we live in a media world and we cherish our reputation as a civilized country.
The problem of those unfortunate people who just happened to arrive on our shores at " the wrong moment " when a solution was put in place - seem destined to live in a time warp !
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