Video: Refugees and Asylum Seekers Face Violence in Papua New Guinea

Refugees and asylum seekers on Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Manus Island have suffered repeated violent attacks and robberies by locals, with inadequate hospital care on the island and no action by police. After more than four years since Australia initiated its policy of mandatory offshore processing of refugees, more than 800 men remain stuck in Papua New Guinea. The Australian and PNG governments have said they will close the main detention center by October 31, 2017. They say refugees should move to a transit facility on the island or settle in PNG, or if they are failed asylum seekers, return to their home countries. Instead, by October 31, Human Rights Watch urges Australia to evacuate all approximately 800 men who sought refuge in Australia but who have spent more than four years in camps on Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea.