Manus Island refugee camp declared unconstitutional

Papua New Guinea is to close a controversial detention camp for asylum-seekers it runs on behalf of the Australian government, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said.

His statement came after the Supreme Court ruled the prolonged detention of refugees was unconstitutional.

"Respecting this ruling, Papua New Guinea will immediately ask the Australian government to make alternative arrangements for the asylum-seekers currently held at the regional processing centre," O'Neill said.

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He added that his government had not anticipated the refugees would be kept at the facility as long as they have.

Manus Island detention centre is one of several offshore processing facilities originally opened as part of the Pacific Solution in 2001 to process the large numbers of "boat people" entering Australian waters without having them enter Australian territory.

The solution, criticised as inhumane and costly, was dismantled in 2007, but global unrest and the subsequent huge movement of people led to some centres later being reopened. Camps currently exist on Manus Island, Christmas Island and Nauru, in Micronesia.

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd affirmed the policy in 2013. "Asylum-seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia," he said.

Under an arrangement between the two nations, refugees held by the Australian government may be resettled in Papua New Guinea. However, this has proved problematic in practice. In July 2013, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned that "sustainable integration of non-Melanesian refugees in the socio-economic and cultural life of PNG" raised "formidable challenges and protection questions".

Earlier this month, 161 detainees at Manus Island petitioned the UNHCR, asking to be taken in by one of the 28 designated counties taking part in the United Nation's resettlement programme.