Manus Island Refugees 'Repair' Fence With Fabric, Say About 422 Remaining in Centre
  • 6 years ago
Refugees inside the abandoned Manus Island detention centre on Papua New Guinea built makeshift fabric fences on November 11 after PNG authorities reportedly dismantled large sections of the compound the day before.The men say they built the fabric fencing in this video after PNG authorities tore down the fence line and dismantled shelters and water tanks on Friday. The men also did their own headcount, with refugee Behrouz Boochani telling Storyful there were about 422 men remaining in the centre as of November 11. They were chanting the number in this video because they saw reports saying there was less than 400 remaining. Other refugees Storyful spoke to said a number of men moved into the new accommodation in Hillside Haus and West Lorengau Haus.When the centre officially closed on October 31, there were about 600 men.The crisis also escalated tensions and controversy in Australia. On Friday, the former Prime Minister’s sister Christine Forster was assaulted outside a fundraiser in Sydney by protesters; the Department of Immigration alleged the refugees on the island lured underage girls with drugs, according a report from The Weekend Australian; and the New Zealand Prime Minister slammed the Australian government for their handling of the crisis, while pushing them to accept their offer to accept 150 refugees. Credit: Manus Alert via Storyful