The deterrence policy is what's wrong, there are plenty of ways for people to get safely from Indonesia to Australia if the government is of that mind.

Ian Rintoul

Categorized in : World

There is no possibility of hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers to be resettled in PNG and Nauru, there are no services, no support, no jobs. They have no future.

The level of frustration on Manus Island is as high as it has ever been, the court action, while a glimmer of hope, is frustrating them as there has been no action despite detention being found to be unlawful.

I think it's been a serious mistake and it hasn't worked for the government at all to play the boat card the way they have in other election cycles.

Papua New Guinea can open the gates to fulfil some technicality, but people are not free to move out of the detention center wherever they like.

I do know they spoke to Somalis yesterday and said it was the last day for them to agree and none of them agreed, they're pushing pretty hard around the place, but as far as I know, they've got no one yet.

They are systematically removing people from compounds who they believe are ring leaders, i mean, they really think that they can behead the movement by removing a handful of individuals from the compounds, but it's patently not the case.

Things have just come to a head. It's impossible to exaggerate the real fears that people have for their safety and for their lives.

There simply is no safe arrangement for resettlement in Papua New Guinea. It is a gaping whole at the end of the Australian government's offshore processing arrangement and as long as that exists, there isn't a remedy.