It has been confirmed that people currently held in the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre who have been assessed as refugees will either be settled in Papua New Guinea or return to their home country. People who have had their applications for protection rejected will be forcibly removed to their home country.

The Centre’s Director and President of the Refugee Council of Australia, Phil Glendenning, has warned the plans amount to refoulement – the forcible return of someone to a country where they are at risk of persecution.

 

“The implications of this decision are clear – people on Manus Island will be deported to danger, either directly or by stealth,” Mr Glendenning said.

 

“Even if people have been assessed as refugees, we know from first-hand and secondary accounts that the difficult situation in PNG leaves them with little choice but to return to their home country where they face immense risks.”

 

Since 2002, the Edmund Rice Centre has conducted research to find out what happens to people who are denied protection in Australia. As part of this project, the Centre’s researchers have interviewed over 300 people from 22 countries including Iran, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

 

“We are particularly concerned that the vast majority of people will be returned to Iran, either forcibly or because they have been left with no alternative,” Mr Glendenning said.

 

“It has been made clear over many years that the Iranian Government cannot be trusted when it comes to human rights, especially the use of capital punishment. Under the current regime, capital punishment rates are at some of the highest levels since Ayatollah Khomeini.”