Close Manus centre: Juffa

 ORO Governor Gary Juffa has called on the Government to close the Manus Island detention centre because it is causing the country great humiliation.

Juffa was reacting to an Australian TV report on the recent riot at the centre, which claimed one life.

He said the 4 Corners report degraded the country and people.

“The centre is portraying PNG in poor light as a violent place and people,” he said in a statement. 

He described the centre as an illegal structure that imprisoned people and wanted it closed.

“The centre is inhumane and in contravention of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

“Everything is being blamed on our local guards and our police. Not a single Papua New Guinean was interviewed. It seems that even the rioting asylum seekers looked down on PNG and said some terrible things about our country and people. Why should we be humiliated like this by trying to provide solutions for a problem that is not ours? 

“No amount of money is worth the humiliation and bad image we are receiving.

“We have some problems sure, what country is free from violence and problems?”

Juffa said the guards and police reacted because they were humiliated and harassed, sworn at and attacked with stones. 

He accused the Government of agreeing to the arrangement in return for money and urged the Government to close down the centre.

Juffa said Australia should consider its international obligation as a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees and process the asylum seekers on its own shores rather than subcontracting to other countries.