UN concerned over safety of 600 men in Manus Island

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA (AA) - The UN called on the Australian government to immediately provide protection, food, water and other basic services to 600 people, who remained in the accommodation compound in the country’s offshore processing centers in Manus Island.

"We are concerned by events in the past week at Australia’s offshore Regional Processing Centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea where refugees and asylum seekers are holding out after the Australian Government’s decision to close the facility and pull out its support staff," Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a news conference in Geneva on Friday.

"We have serious concerns about the welfare, safety and well-being of the roughly 600 men who remain in the accommodation compound, who are too frightened to leave," Colville said.

Noting that all migrants, including refugees and asylum-seekers have a right to a safe and secure environment, a right to an adequate standard of living and to participate in the decision-making process that is affecting their future, Colville said: "Human dignity should be ensured throughout the entire processing of their asylum claims."

Urging the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea to fully respect their human rights, Colville said: "We repeat our overall concerns about Australia’s offshore processing centers, which are unsustainable, inhumane and contrary to its human rights obligations. We urge the Australian Government to transfer the men to mainland Australia where their claims can be processed."