An asylum seeker situated on Manus Island died overnight, ABC reports.
Papua New Guinean police have confirmed the death. Friends of the man report he took his own life.
The 32-year-old man, a Sri Lankan Tamil, had been staying at the temporary East Lorengau Transit Centre.
That “transit” facility was opened to house asylum seekers before the detention centre’s permanent closure on October 31.
Those staying at the facility have described a lack of adequate guidance, protection, and healthcare.
In August, Manus Island detainee Behrooz Boochani said “refugees in Manus Prison have been under systematic torture for a long time and find it hard to maintain hope.
“But instead of protecting them Australia has released them in Lorengau town without the necessary support.”
The man is the sixth asylum seeker to have died on the island in the past four years.
In August, Papua New Guinean authorities reported Iranian asylum seeker Hamed Shamshiripour died by suicide; that claim has been disputed by Shamshiripour’s family.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection have not yet released a statement on the death.
We’ll update this story as more information comes to hand.
