PNG Court Rules Detaining Refugees On Manus Island Is Absolutely Illegal

Well hooly-bloody-dooly.

Papua New Guinea‘s Supreme Court has ruled that Australia‘s detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island is illegal, throwing into question the continued operations of our detention centres.

The five-man bench ruled that both refugees and asylum seekers – of which there are 850 in total – are being illegally detained, because their freedom of movement is curtailed and is therefore in breach of the right to personal liberty in the PNG constitution.

According to reports in the ABC, centre operators have recently been trying to move refugees into so-called transit centres, as well as allow them to move outside detention under certain conditions (i.e. during the day, good behaviour).