Asylum seekers in armed hold up

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Two asylum seekers have been threatened at gunpoint at accommodation housing asylum seekers and refugees in Port Moresby.

Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection has confirmed two men were caught up in an armed robbery at the motel on the evening of July 10, the ABC reports.

“Two residents from the Manus Regional Processing Centre (RPC) were present at the time,” a spokesman said in a statement.

“One resident was assaulted by an offender, however was not seriously injured.

“Law enforcement in PNG is the responsibility of the PNG Government,” the statement continued.

The men were among a group from Australia’s detention centre on Manus Island who were staying in Port Moresby for medical treatment.

Refugees on Manus Island said Australian security contractors were also robbed.

They said the asylum seekers were traumatised and had asked to be sent back to the remote Manus Island complex immediately.

But the department said they would remain in Port Moresby for the moment.

“They will return to the Manus RPC when their treatment is complete,” the spokesman said.

Radio New Zealand reports that a group of armed men attacked the hotel in the Papua New Guinea capital where 17 refugees from the Manus Island detention centre were staying while awaiting medical treatment.

A Kurdish Iranian journalist, Behrouz Boochani, who is detained at the centre, said the attack happened on Sunday night at about 11.00pm.

Boochani said four men armed with guns took two of the refugees hostage along with their guards, who were employed by the company Wilson Security.

He said money was taken from the guards and one of the refugees was assaulted.

Boochani said the armed men fired their weapons at hotel security staff before escaping in a waiting vehicle.

He said the refugees, who had been at the hotel for nearly two months, have been traumatised by the attack, but their request to be sent back to Manus Island had been denied. - ABC/RNZI