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Manus Island: PNG police to clear out refugees, priest and major call for help
More than three weeks into the worsening humanitarian crisis, a police operation is under way on Manus Island, with Papua New Guinean police and immigration officers entering the former detention centre in an attempt to move the remaining detainees out. Police forces were described as menacing and aggressive by refugees as they destroyed structures and threw away refugees’ belongings. Police officers also detained and then released refugee, human rights defender and journalist Behrouz Boochani during a raid on the Manus Island detention centre.Amnesty International said it was uncertain why Boochani had been arrested but it appeared to be “a deliberate attempt to isolate human rights activists from the wider group”.Calling for support for the refugees and asylum seekers on Manus, and for a conflict-free solution to the standoff inside the Australian-run detention centre, two Manusian men – Catholic priest Father Clement Taulam and retired army major Michael Kuweh are disregarding the PNG and Australian governments. The two concluded that the refugees are facing severe crisis as they are deprived of food, water and shelter as no government seemed willing to take care of the men who remain in the centre.The fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea. On October 31, the Australian government closed its controversial Papua New Guinea-based offshore immigration detention centre in Manus Island which detained people who had overstayed their visa, violated their visa conditions and had their visa discarded or have been dismissed entry at Australia’s entry ports. Due to this move by the Australian government, over 400 men are refusing to leave as they fear their safety and had built a special connection with the community of Manus Island. Source: The Guardian