6 Mar 2018

Manus refugees sent back to island

5:18 pm on 6 March 2018

Eleven refugees in Port Moresby for medical treatment are being returned to Manus Island.

Manus Island detainees arrive at the Port Moresby motel.

Manus Island detainees arrive at the Port Moresby motel. Photo: Ben Moghimi

Detained in Papua New Guinea by Australia, the men were escorted unbound from Granville Motel today by the PNG immigration authority.

A refugee in the motel said the authority had planned to take 17 men but some of them were no longer there.

Others on the list were still receiving medical treatment and were left behind, he said.

About 70 refugees remain in the motel where about 20 more from Manus are rumoured to be arriving today.

In February, about three dozen refugees in Port Moresby were forcibly sent back to the island.

Last week, the authority warned refugees in the capital they could volunteer to go back to Manus with dignity or be compelled to return.

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