In mid April, at Australia’s refugee detention centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea defence personnel attacked the centre and shot at the refugees, wounding one. Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton not only downplayed the incident but intimated that the refugees had assaulted a local child. Dutton’s version was not only contradicted by the PNG authorities and by evidence collected by human rights organisations, but it has become clear that the attack seriously put the lives of many refugees at risk. The response by the Australian government to this incident once again highlights the brutal anti-refugee policies that have been carried out by successive Australian governments.
In mid April, at Australia’s refugee detention centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea defence personnel attacked the centre and shot at the refugees, wounding one. Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton not only downplayed the incident but intimated that the refugees had assaulted a local child. Dutton’s version was not only contradicted by the PNG authorities and by evidence collected by human rights organisations, but it has become clear that the attack seriously put the lives of many refugees at risk. The response by the Australian government to this incident once again highlights the brutal anti-refugee policies that have been carried out by successive Australian governments.
