UN warns of ‘humanitarian emergency’ at PNG camp abandoned by Australia

The United Nations (UN) has warned of a “humanitarian emergency” unfolding at the site of a former Australian-run detention camp for refugees in Papua New Guinea (PNG), calling on authorities in Canberra to immediately take action to stop the emerging crisis.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on Thursday that the situation in the Manus Island camp was “increasingly tense and unstable.”

The UNHCR said there were inadequate accommodation and food supplies inside the abandoned detention center, which houses hundreds of asylum seekers.

A PNG court had ruled the camp illegal, and a closure had been scheduled for October 31. But instead of resettling the asylum seekers, Australian authorities simply abandoned the camp and the individuals who were being held in detention there.

Local authorities then called on the asylum seekers at the camp to move to three new sites; however, 600 refugees have barricaded themselves inside the camp fearing violence by the locals.

Since the closure, electricity and drinking water supplies to the site have been cut.

“Australia remains responsible for the well-being of all those moved to Papua New Guinea until adequate, long-term solutions outside the country are found,” the statement said.

“As the days go by, where they have no water and no electricity, I think the tensions will just go up higher,” UNHCR representative Lam Nai Jit told AFP from the island, noting that the weather was “extremely hot and humid” there.

Reports said dozens of men worked during the night and used torches and wooden poles to dig deep holes to find water.

SS