SYDNEY--Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Wednesday they had agreed to close a controversial Australian-funded asylum seeker detention centre on Manus Island, but gave no timeline, leaving the fate of 800 refugees held in the camp unclear.
Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.
Some asylum seekers have spent years in the camps, which have been criticised by the United Nations and human rights groups, with numerous reports of abuse and self-harm among detainees, including children.
The announcement came after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm reported over two years at the Nauru detention centre. The harsh conditions and reports of systemic child abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism at home and abroad.
Some in Papua New Guinea are unhappy with the prospect of hundreds of asylum seekers being resettled into their country and there have been reports of asylum seekers being attacked by locals. "Both Papua New Guinea and Australia are in agreement that the centre is to be closed," Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said in a statement. "A series of options are being advanced and implemented. It is important that this process is not rushed out but carried out in a careful manner." There was no mention of a closing date.
