Intimate photos give rare look at Manus Island
Intimate photos of life on Manus Island have been released as asylum seekers are put under increasing pressure to return to their home country amid fears the United States intake deal will fall through.
The photos taken in February show the high levels of security detainees are subject to.
A number of images show tropical palm trees, surrounded by huge metal fences.
Intimate photos of life on Manus Island have been released as asylum seekers are put under increasing pressure to return to their home country amid fears the United States intake deal will fall through
A detainee looks into shipping container accommodations inside the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea
Accommodation for detainees is photographed inside the Manus Island detention centre
Do you even lift, bro? A makeshift gym inside the Manus Island detention centre
A number of images show tropical palm trees, surrounded by huge metal fences
They paint a picture of day-to-day life for detainees at Australia's controversial detention centre. Pictures show some being escorted by security guards, and others chatting in cramped room.
This comes as officials at Manus Island increase pressure on asylum seekers to return to their home countries voluntarily, including offering large sums of money, amid fears a deal for the United States to take refugees has fallen through.
About a dozen Bangladeshi and Nepalese asylum seekers on Manus Island told Reuters they are being repeatedly called to meet with Australian officials and pressured to take amounts of up to $25,000 to return to those countries, or face deportation.
The men, who have been ruled ineligible for refugee status by Papua New Guinea, said officials are also acting with urgency on deportation notices filed weeks or months ago. At least one Nepalese man was removed from his accommodation in the middle of the night last week, they said.
Images of detainees are pictured above doorways inside the Manus Island detention centre
The pictures paint a picture of day-to-day life for detainees at Australia's controversial detention centre
Bangladeshi Mohammad Rasel is photographed inside the Manus Island detention on Saturday
'They told me and others that if you go back voluntarily you will get money about $20,000, if you guys go in group you will get more money,' detainee Mohammad Bilal, a crane driver who says he fled Bangladesh for political reasons, told Reuters about a meeting with Australian officials last week.
Offering money to failed asylum seekers to return home is not illegal. However, the sums being offered by Australian officials have more than doubled since a year ago, and are far above the funds being offered elsewhere.
'Substantial assistance packages are available to help non-refugees depart voluntarily, return home and re-establish their lives in their home country,' Australia's immigration department said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
'In cases where non-refugees refuse to depart voluntarily, the government of PNG has indicated that it will enforce the removal of those individuals, in accordance with normal international practice.'
Security fences surround buildings inside the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea
Authorities inside the Manus Island refugee camp in Papua New Guinea walk around the camp serving deportation notices to detainees