PNG to close controversial Australian-run immigration center

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has asked the Australian government to make alternative arrangements for asylum seekers at a controversial Australian-run immigration processing center after his government ordered it be closed.

Though the number of refugees trying to reach Australian shores pales in comparison to those that attempted to enter Europe, authorities controversially ship asylum seekers to two Australian offshore immigration processing centers on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and the island nation of Nauru.

O'Neill said on Wednesday he has ordered the Manus Island processing center be closed after the PNG Supreme Court found its existence and operation unconstitutional.

"Respecting this ruling, Papua New Guinea will immediately ask the Australian government to make alternative arrangements for the asylum seekers currently held at the Regional Processing Centre," O'Neill said in a statement.

The PNG Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled the original memorandum of understanding establishing the arrangement was unconstitutional as asylum seekers entering PNG were doing so against their will and having their freedom of movement hindered despite not breaking local laws.

The court also ruled a constitutional amendment made by the central government last year to legitimise the process was also unconstitutional, and therefore invalid.

The policy, adopted in 2013, is designed to stop the flow of asylum seekers using people smuggling operations to reach Australia by boat following a spate of tragic deaths at sea.

Earlier on Wednesday, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he was seeking guidance from the PNG government, but maintained Australia's hardline stance to those seeking asylum via boat.

"The government's position is very clear - that is that we are not going to accept people who have sought to come to our country illegally by boat. They will not settle permanently in our country," Dutton told reporters in Melbourne.

However O'Neill has become less enthusiastic to host the controversial Manus Island processing center over the past years, claiming his country's reputation has suffered as a result and that the struggling nation could ill-afford the cost of refugee resettlement.

About half of the some 850 people currently detained on Manus Island have been found to be refugees which authorities have been attempting to move into a nearby transit-center in anticipation of the courts ruling.

Asylum seekers who have been denied refugee status have been told they must go back to their country of origin.

However, only eight refugees have been moved into the community, three of whom had attempted to re-enter the transit center, Fairfax Media reported last week.

"For those that have been deemed to be legitimate refugees, we invite them to live in Papua New Guinea only if they want to be a part of our society and make a contribution to our community," O'Neill said.

"(But) It is clear that several of these refugees do not want to settle in Papua New Guinea and that is their decision."

O'Neill has also asked the Australian government to aid the transition of businesses linked to the operation of the center so they, and their employees, do not suffer economic hardship.

"A number of local businesses have invested to expand their operations to support the Manus center, and their businesses will now suffer," O'Neill said.

Source: XINHUA