Stalemate as refugees dig in at closed Australia camp in PNG

Some 400 refugees rebuffed continued efforts by Papua New Guinea authorities to convince them to move from a shuttered Australian detention camp Tuesday as the tense standoff over their future drags into a third week.

The confrontation has drawn global attention to Canberra's tough immigration policy, under which asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are sent to remote Pacific camps on PNG's Manus Island and the island nation of Nauru.

Most of the 600 refugees detained at the camp refused to leave when Australia officially closed it on October 31 after the PNG Supreme Court ruled the site unconstitutional, citing fears for their safety outside.

They are barred from resettling in Australia and Canberra has struggled to transfer them to third countries.

Kurdish-Iranian detainee and journalist Behrouz Boochani told AFP on Tuesday that the detainees were going to dig another well, a day after police moved into the camp to puncture or remove tanks holding the refugees' remaining supplies of drinking water.

"It's the moment to accept failure & let us go to a 3rd country," Boochani, who has acted as a spokesman for the refugees, added in a tweet Tuesday.

Police, who have so far complied with orders from higher authorities not to resort to force to remove the men, used loudspeakers to appeal to the detainees to move on Monday.

Chief Inspector David Yapu issued a statement late Monday indicating growing impatience at the stalemate, after the refugees ignored several deadlines for the camp to be cleared.

source: AFP