UN refugee agency to play no role in PNG detention centre

THE United Nations refugee agency will be sidelined from involvement in the Manus Island detention centre when it is reopened by Australia in several weeks' time.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the centre, in Papua New Guinea, would be “appropriately” administered.

He said the Australian government would talk to the UNHCR, but the agency would not play a role in the centre's management.

“We certainly don't envisage UNHCR involvement,” he told ABC radio.

The Gillard government was anxious for the UNHCR to give its imprimatur to its Malaysian refugee swap, but the agency refused to endorse the deal.

Australia and PNG reached an in-principle agreement on the use of the Manus Island centre, previously used by the Howard government, following the election last week of new PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.

Mr Bowen said the two governments were still working to finalise the details of the arrangement.

He said it would be several weeks before the centre became operational after an extended period of abandonment.

The Manus Island detention centre was built in 2001 and, after being used by the Howard government, was closed in 2004 after its final detainee was resettled in Australia.

Mr Bowen said the re-opening of the centre would “complement” the government's Malaysian refugee swap, which is currently being challenged in the High Court.

“If you have offshore processing as a complement to other initiatives such as the arrangement with Malaysia, then it can be part of a deterrent,” he said.

“We are not saying that Manus Island in and of itself of course is the answer to the problems.”

Julia Gillard later reiterated Mr Bowen's comments, saying the government never expected UNHCR involvement in the administration of the Manus Island facility.

“The UNHCR makes its decisions about what it chooses to be involved in,” Ms Gillard said.

“We never had the slightest expectation that the UNHCR would be involved in the discussion with PNG”.

Ms Gillard said the re-opening of the detention centre had been discussed bilaterally between the Australia and Papua New Guinea government and a funding allowance had been made for its reactivation in the budget.

The government's Malaysian solution came under further pressure yesterday with the arrival of a boat carrying 102 asylum-seekers, doubling the number awaiting deportation pending the High Court action.

The government is also confronting allegations of major flaws in the immigration detention network by the commonwealth workplace safety agency.

A Comcare report, obtained by the opposition, found there was no risk management process despite the volatile detention environment and that staff at detention centres were not trained to deal with riots, suicide attempts or other critical incidents.

Comcare also claimed there was a lack of co-operation by the department, which had allowed extremely tight schedules for visits to centres.

Departmental spokesman Sandi Logan rejected any suggestion the department had failed to co-operate.

“I think there may have been some miscommunication on a couple of occasions,” Mr Logan told ABC television.

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