Refugee Action Coalition MEDIA RELEASE PROTEST SWEEPS MANUS ISLAND – MASS HUNGER STRIKE PROTEST; NO RUNNING WATER Hundreds of asylum seekers in Mike Compound are on hunger strike and refusing to return to their compounds as a wave of protest sweeps Manus Island detention centre from Tuesday morning and into the night. Other compounds are expected to join the hunger strike on Wednesday as chants of “Freedom, What do we want, Freedom” were going back and forward between Mike, Foxtrot and Delta compounds Tuesday night. At least one asylum seeker in Mike Compound has stitched his lips in protest. The protest began on Tuesday morning as running water stopped on Manus Island –meaning there is no water for the showers or to wash. Hundreds of plastic bottles are piling up in shower blocks. Threats by guards to send in PNG police to disperse the protesters and force the asylum seekers in Mike Compound back to their rooms have only added to the fears and the tensions in the detention centre. Tensions have been rising in recent days as most of the asylum seekers approach 18 months of detention on Manus Island. There has also been threats that those who have been determined to be refugees will be taken by force into insecure accommodation at Lorengau, where they fear they will be vulnerable to attacks by locals. The anniversary of the savage attacks in which Reza Barati was killed in Mike Compound is only a month away. Fears have been heightened in recent days by the actions of locals smashing the kitchen in Foxtrot Compound on Saturday, January 10, while more locals massed outside the compound fence. The first group of refugees is expected to be moved to Lorengau on 22 January. The lack of security and the enforced stay on Manus Island without the possibility of work has highlighted the farce of resettlement in PNG. One message from Mike Compound said, “If we are sent to Lorengau, they [the locals] will kill us. Please help us.” Concerns for the future has also come to a head as the hundreds of asylum seekers who have refused to be processed on PNG have been told that unless they sign to be processed in PNG, they will be forcibly deported to their home countries. An audio file of message from one asylum seeker on Manus Island is atatched. For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713 refugeeaction.org.au
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 11:31:18 +0000
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