Against camps

Excerpt

White beaches, palm trees, a sparkling turquoise sea under a blue sky speckled with white clouds—Manus Island appears to be the archetype of a tropical paradise when observed from afar. For several hundred people, it is rather the opposite: here, 3700 km north of Canberra, Australia’s capital, on an island which is part of Papua New Guinea, the Australian Government detains refugees and asylum seekers accused of trying to enter Australia “illegally” by boat. For several years, inmates were “processed offshore” and held in a facility called Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRPC). Since the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea intervened, they may roam about the island but still not leave it. And they have no way of knowing for how much longer their “administrative detention” will last. …