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UNHCR Fact Sheet on Situation of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea (21 January 2018)

Attachments

Key Findings and Recommendations

Operational Context

3,172 refugees and asylum-seekers have been forcibly transferred by Australia to ‘offshore processing’ facilities in Papua New Guinea and Nauru since the introduction of the current policy in 2013.1 Of these, some 800 remain in Papua New Guinea.

Following the Australia-United States relocation arrangement, UNHCR has endorsed the referral of more than 1,200 refugees to the United States of America since December 2016. Another 500 people still require a review of their refugee status determination process by authorities in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, under the Australian arrangement.

Long-term solutions remain needed for all people transferred by Australia to Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Neither Papua New Guinea nor Nauru are appropriate places for local integration for the majority of refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly given their acute needs as a result of prolonged detention and harsh conditions. UNHCR’s last monitoring mission to Manus Island took place from 9 to 13 January 2018. This visit followed UNHCR’s continued monitoring presence on Manus Island from 28 September to 13 December 2017.