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‘We prefer starvation’: Manus Island detainees fear for lives in desperate hold out

Under the proposed changes, two doctors could request for an asylum seeker to be transferred from offshore detention.

Under the proposed changes, two doctors could request for an asylum seeker to be transferred from offshore detention. Photo: Supplied

Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers have barricaded themselves inside the offshore processing centre on Manus Island, as food, water and power were withdrawn on Tuesday.

Three refugees have told The New Daily they would rather starve than move to the alternative sites around Lorengau township.

“We prefer starvation rather than risking our lives,” Sudanese refugee Hass Hassaballa said.

By late Tuesday evening, Mr Hassaballa said the men had grown “desperate” and relayed concerns some could self-harm.

Earlier, around 600 remaining men began stockpiling water and jerry-rigged guttering to drain rainwater into wheelie bins after food and water were cut off.

Fearing violence overnight, the men fixed fencing that had been destroyed by a fallen tree to barricade themselves in after staff drove off on Tuesday.

“Everything is okay right now, we locked the camp so we are worry (sic), but we are safe right now,” Pakistani refugee Ezatullah Kakar told The New Daily on Tuesday evening.

Power was shut off about half of the centre’s buildings late Tuesday night.

Former MP Ron Knight told The New Daily there were plans to deliver a generator and solar units to the centre overnight, but the plans were dashed when police began searching vehicles in and out of the site at Lombrum.

Asylum seekers and refugees fashioned a water supply using piping and wheelie bins.

The men collected water using pipe and wheelie bins. Photo: Nick McKim

The men say they will peacefully resist being moved as Papua New Guinea prepares to retake control of the Lombrum site on Wednesday.

PNG Immigration Minister Petrus Thomas on Tuesday said the men would be not removed with force.

A notice put up at the site said: “Anyone choosing to remain here will be liable for removal from an active PNG military base.”

The men fear the standoff will turn violent after navy personnel shot them at on Good Friday this year, Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani told The New Daily.

They also fear violence from locals, after reporting looters entered the site on Tuesday.

Refugees told AAP that armed men had looted tents, tables, boxes, fire alarms, fans, air conditioners and “whatever they saw” from Manus.

Refugees and asylum seekers have reported being attacked by locals with machetes over recent months at Lorengau township, where the three alternative centres are located.

A notice put up at the Manus Island site said, “Anyone choosing to remain here will be liable for removal from an active PNG military base”

A notice put up at the site said, “Anyone choosing to remain here will be liable for removal from an active PNG military base”. Photo: Supplied

Anger has been building among locals, hundreds of whom rallied together on Tuesday to protest against the relocation.

Governor of Manus Island Charlie Benjamin on Monday said many locals feared they would be in danger, and were threatening to arm themselves with knives and other weapons to stop the men moving in.

The alternative three centres

The detainees who have been granted refugee status, and are owed protection, are expected to move to the East Lorengau Transit Centre (ELTC) and West Haus. ELTC has been running for months, and is where two men died in suspected suicides in September and October.

Kate Schuetze, Pacific Researcher at Amnesty International, told The New Daily West Haus was still “barely more than a construction site”. Footage from the scene on Monday showed shipping containers stacked on top of one another.

The other relocation site, Hillside Haus, is to house the men who have not been granted refugee status.

Men with refugee status are waiting to progress through the US resettlement deal, and have been told it will continue over coming months.

Acting Prime Minister Julie Bishop and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on Tuesday rejected witness reports that facilities were unfinished.

The Australian and PNG governments have contradicted each other this week, each passing responsibility onto the other.

Ms Schuetze, who is on Manus to witness the centre’s closure, said she did not believe adequate services would be provided at the alternative sites.

Greens Senator Nick McKim and representatives from the United Nations are also on Manus for the closure.

The closure at 6pm (AEDT) on Tuesday came 18 months after a PNG Supreme Court ruled it was illegal.

A detainee fixes fencing at the centre on Tuesday to secure the site on Manus Island.

A detainee fixes fencing at the centre on Tuesday to secure the site. Photo: Supplied

Water is pictured collected in wheelie bins on Tuesday.

Water is pictured collected in wheelie bins on Tuesday. Photo: Supplied

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