Asylum Seekers on Manus Island hunger strike for better conditions, 2015

The Manus Island Regional Processing Center was an offshore immigration detention center that primarily dealt with refugees that arrived in Australia by boat. The facility, located on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea (PNG), opened in 2011. Tony Abbott, the right-leaning prime minister, who held office from 2013 to 2015, passed legislation to slow down immigration to Australia, especially by boat. This led to overcrowding of the country’s offshore processing centers in Nauru, Christmas Island, and Manus Island. Australian border officials often denied entry to refugees and asylum seekers looking to relocate in Australia and moved them to these detention centers until they could safely relocate the refugees to another country.

The Manus Island Processing Center quickly became known for its harsh conditions shortly after it opened in 2011. Abbott’s policies forced many migrants to Manus Island, many of whom came from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. Overcrowding of the facility sparked unrest, with some detainees held at the facility for over 18 months at a time and little to no indication of where their case stood in the [immigration?] system. 

Turmoil within the facility between detainees, guards, and locals led to a large riot in February 2014. Refugee representatives claimed the riots started when the detainees came under attack by local residents and police. Both locals and detainees breached fences, which led to a mixed crowd of rioters. Seventy-seven detainees were injured and one detainee died from a head injury. The injuries and death became global news, with many human and immigration rights organizations calling for an investigation into the offshore processing center. Australian officials apologized and said they would prioritize resettlement for the refugees, but no changes were made. 

In January 2015, the Australian government’s plan to relocate 50 asylum seekers to a Manus Island jail sparked a new approach to protest. Over 700 asylum seekers chose to go on a hunger strike as a way of protesting their treatment and living conditions. Like previous detainees, many of the strikers had been at the facility for over a year without progress on their relocation or safe resettlement in surrounding areas. As Australia was no longer an option for asylum seekers, the Australian government hoped to move them to PNG and surrounding countries, but locals on these islands were not always welcoming of the asylum seekers. On Manus Island, for example, local businesses paid immigrants ten times more, on average, than locals, who protested the relocations. 

Just days after the hunger strike began, many detainees collapsed due to lack of food and water. Detention Center officials cut off running water at the facility, causing human rights organizations to get involved. The cafeteria quickly turned into an emergency medical center run by International Health and Medical Services (IHMS).

Some detainees took more drastic actions to protest, such as sewing their lips shut and consuming razor blades. Despite the protests, the Australian government publicly refused to negotiate with the protesters, while leaders of the protests were taken to solitary confinement units in the facility. Refugee activists filed a petition to the United Nations, but lack of communication with detainees on the island made it difficult to work with organizations on the outside. The Australian government adhered to their policies, denying asylum seekers who arrived to the country by boat.

The strike continued for another two weeks, with many more protesters collapsing and receiving emergency medical treatment. After desperate pleas for help by the protesters, the Australian government offered government-assisted returns to the asylum seekers’ home countries, but the same conflicts and conditions that caused refugees to flee their homes continued, and thus returning was not a safe option for the majority of people at Manus Island. 

After fourteen days of the strike passed, the Australian government deployed riot police to the detention center to remove the leaders of the protest. Those not taken to solitary confinement were arrested and relocated to Lorengau Jail, the local jail on Manus Island. Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said in a statement that police used an “appropriate” degree of force to remove the over ninety leaders of the strike. Other Australian Politicians, particularly Greens Party Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, feared for the safety of the detainees, facing threats from both inside and outside of the facility. The relocation of some detainees, specifically, was an issue for Hanson-Young, who called the new accommodation one “that asylum seekers are fearful is not going to keep them safe from resentment in the local community.”

After the arrests and relocations, a protest by locals on the island began outside of Lorengau Jail, demonstrating their discontent with the processing center and job competition with asylum seekers on the island. The demonstrators stayed outside the jail holding knives and machetes, only reinforcing the asylum seekers’ lack of safety on the island.

The arrests finally ended the strike. Detainees at the detention center began to eat again while those who led the protests faced harsher punishments by the Australian government in solitary confinement or prison. Very little changed at the Manus Island Processing Center, as the government continued to slowly make their way through the cases for asylum. However, in 2017, after intervention from human rights groups and changes in Australian politics, the Manus Island Regional Processing Center closed and asylum seekers were sent elsewhere to find safety.