04 May 2016•Update: 05 May 2016
MELBOURNE, Australia
More than 750 asylum seekers detained at an offshore Australian detention center filed legal action Wednesday asking to immediately be moved to Australia.
The urgent injunction application comes after Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Supreme Court ruled April 26 that the center it hosts for Australia on Manus Island breaches the Pacific island nation’s constitution.
News broadcaster ABC reported that under Wednesday’s application at the High Court, the 757 asylum seekers requested an order that would impede Australia’s government from sending them to another offshore detention center on the Pacific island of Nauru.
They are accusing the Australian and PNG governments of "gross" human rights violations such as forcible detention, false imprisonment, torture and degrading treatment, alleging that their detention falls under arbitrary and indefinite detention under international law.
According to the ABC, they are asking for damages and legal costs, and to be transferred to Australia for their claims to refugee status to be assessed promptly.
The group has also blamed negligence as a factor leading to the death of a 23-year-old Iranian, Reza Barati, during violent protests at Manus in Feb. 2014.
On April 27, Papua New Guinea’s prime minister ordered the closure of the Manus center, and said his government would discuss with their Australian counterparts a timeline for the process.
Under its immigration policy, Australia detains asylum seekers who arrive by boat, in processing centers on Manus and Nauru, where conditions have been described as appalling by rights advocates.
