Processing frozen before Manus Island riot began: secret tape
- Date
EXCLUSIVE
Under pressure: Minister Scott Morrison. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
A secret recording of a security meeting has revealed
processing of asylum seekers on Manus Island was frozen in the lead-up
to the deadly violence that engulfed the centre, despite Immigration
Minister Scott Morrison's claims to the contrary.
During an hour-long briefing of senior staff, the then acting
regional manager of security provider G4S, John McCaffery, said he had
been told that no refugee status determinations would take place ''for
the foreseeable future'' because of lack of funds.
In January Mr Morrison said processing had recommenced on Manus and been under way for three or four weeks.
The recording also reveals that, contrary to stated policy,
there were at least three unaccompanied minors among the 1300 detainees
on the island before the violence that culminated in the death of Reza
Barati and injuries to scores of others.
During the staff meeting on January 30, Mr McCaffery told
staff that G4S had repeatedly raised with the department the need to
tell asylum seekers when their claims for refugee status would be
assessed.
He reported that a request made the previous day for
immigration officials to address the detainees had been rejected. He
also reported that he had been told by PNG's chief migration officer
that no refugee status determinations (RSDs) would take place for the
foreseeable future because he had ''no money in his budget to pay for
RSD officers''.
Another senior official told the meeting three unaccompanied
minors had been identified that day. All were 17 and were being held in
an area called the Green Zone apart from the centre's four compounds
until it was decided whether they would be transferred.
The meeting outlined fears of a major and violent incident
more than two weeks before it occurred. It sheds new light on the
inability of those employed at the centre to deal with a host of
problems, from the depression of detainees, to the lack of basic
amenities.
The recording raises many issues that were not fully
explored in the departmental investigation by Robert Cornall and are
likely to be pursued in a Senate inquiry starting on Tuesday.
These include the assertion that the protest leaders were not only from Iran, and included detainees from Iraq and Lebanon.
At one point an unidentified official complains of the lack
of shade from the intense sunlight, saying: ''While they're getting
their brains cooked from the outside, they're not thinking straight.''
Another official recalls telling asylum seekers who were
losing patience after being in the centre several months: ''Don't take
this the wrong way, but there's people in detention centres on Christmas
Island and so forth that have been there over three years. Yous are
just babies. You've just got here!''
Less than three weeks before the first night of violence, Mr
McCaffery opens the meeting by warning that the situation is
deteriorating, sparking fears of a repeat of riots on Christmas Island
and Nauru.
He then announces a policy of reduced tolerance will be
introduced, and detainees will be subject to PNG's ''draconian''
assembly laws that require advance warning of any protest,
identification of leaders and when the protest will begin and end.
''We've spent a lot of time being accommodating and that has
worked, allowing the transferees to express their opinions and to
communicate with each other and with us,'' he says.
''Regardless of how they feel, tomorrow we are going to start reasserting control in the compound.''
Mr McCaffery is constantly reminded of logistical and other
challenges, including the inability to remove alleged protest leaders
from others, the lack of information and the lack of radios and other
basic equipment.
''It is what it is, mate,'' he replies. ''We're at the end of a very long supply chain which constantly fails.''
A spokesman for Mr Morrison said his statement about
processing was ''based on the understanding of the situation at the time
of making the statement''.
He added that Australia met the cost of processing.
The Immigration Department was not aware of any unaccompanied
minors in the centre now or around the time of the violence, Mr
Morrison's spokesman said.
Under pressure: Minister Scott Morrison. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
processing of asylum seekers on Manus Island was frozen in the lead-up
to the deadly violence that engulfed the centre, despite Immigration
Minister Scott Morrison's claims to the contrary.
During an hour-long briefing of senior staff, the then acting
regional manager of security provider G4S, John McCaffery, said he had
been told that no refugee status determinations would take place ''for
the foreseeable future'' because of lack of funds.
In January Mr Morrison said processing had recommenced on Manus and been under way for three or four weeks.
The recording also reveals that, contrary to stated policy,
there were at least three unaccompanied minors among the 1300 detainees
on the island before the violence that culminated in the death of Reza
Barati and injuries to scores of others.
During the staff meeting on January 30, Mr McCaffery told
staff that G4S had repeatedly raised with the department the need to
tell asylum seekers when their claims for refugee status would be
assessed.
He reported that a request made the previous day for
immigration officials to address the detainees had been rejected. He
also reported that he had been told by PNG's chief migration officer
that no refugee status determinations (RSDs) would take place for the
foreseeable future because he had ''no money in his budget to pay for
RSD officers''.
Another senior official told the meeting three unaccompanied
minors had been identified that day. All were 17 and were being held in
an area called the Green Zone apart from the centre's four compounds
until it was decided whether they would be transferred.
The meeting outlined fears of a major and violent incident
more than two weeks before it occurred. It sheds new light on the
inability of those employed at the centre to deal with a host of
problems, from the depression of detainees, to the lack of basic
amenities.
The recording raises many issues that were not fully
explored in the departmental investigation by Robert Cornall and are
likely to be pursued in a Senate inquiry starting on Tuesday.
These include the assertion that the protest leaders were not only from Iran, and included detainees from Iraq and Lebanon.
At one point an unidentified official complains of the lack
of shade from the intense sunlight, saying: ''While they're getting
their brains cooked from the outside, they're not thinking straight.''
Another official recalls telling asylum seekers who were
losing patience after being in the centre several months: ''Don't take
this the wrong way, but there's people in detention centres on Christmas
Island and so forth that have been there over three years. Yous are
just babies. You've just got here!''
Less than three weeks before the first night of violence, Mr
McCaffery opens the meeting by warning that the situation is
deteriorating, sparking fears of a repeat of riots on Christmas Island
and Nauru.
He then announces a policy of reduced tolerance will be
introduced, and detainees will be subject to PNG's ''draconian''
assembly laws that require advance warning of any protest,
identification of leaders and when the protest will begin and end.
''We've spent a lot of time being accommodating and that has
worked, allowing the transferees to express their opinions and to
communicate with each other and with us,'' he says.
''Regardless of how they feel, tomorrow we are going to start reasserting control in the compound.''
Mr McCaffery is constantly reminded of logistical and other
challenges, including the inability to remove alleged protest leaders
from others, the lack of information and the lack of radios and other
basic equipment.
''It is what it is, mate,'' he replies. ''We're at the end of a very long supply chain which constantly fails.''
A spokesman for Mr Morrison said his statement about
processing was ''based on the understanding of the situation at the time
of making the statement''.
He added that Australia met the cost of processing.
The Immigration Department was not aware of any unaccompanied
minors in the centre now or around the time of the violence, Mr
Morrison's spokesman said.
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