Iranian Man Who Hoped To Reach Australia Dies Near Manus Island Detention Center

SYDNEY An Iranian man was found dead on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, near an Australian detention center used to hold refugees and asylum-seekers caught trying to travel to the country.

Behrouz Boochani, a refugee and Kurdish journalist on Manus Island, tweeted on Monday that the man was found dead close to the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Center. Boochani said the man had been battling a long illness, and blamed the Australian government for not giving the man medical treatment.  

Manus police chief David Yapu on Monday confirmed  the man’s death and said it appeared he had died by suicide, the New York Times reports. Authorities did not release the man’s full identity. 

For the past few years, Australia has sent asylum-seekers intercepted while trying to reach the country by sea to processing camps on two islands the Pacific island of Nauru, and Manus Island, which is part of Papua New Guinea. Even when recognized as refugees, Australia does not allow the new arrivals to resettle in the country.  

Australia says the policy is an effort to deter human smugglers. However, the government has faced intense criticism for conditions in the centers. Refugee advocates have long called for the government to bring the asylum-seekers to Australia.

Sen. Nick McKim, a member of the Australian Greens political party, said on Monday that the death of the man represented an “abhorrent” failure by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government, and pointed to the country’s immigration minister, Peter Dutton.

“This man repeatedly sought Australia’s help,” McKim said. “The [Liberal party] ignored his pleas and now must bear responsibility for what happened.”

He continued: “Enough is enough. The detention centers on Manus and Nauru must be evacuated and every single detained man, woman and child brought to Australia so they can be properly cared for.”

HuffPost Australia reached out to Dutton for comment.  

Monday’s tragic events mark the fifth death of an asylum-seeker since the center opened in Papua New Guinea in mid-2012.

Amnesty International said in a statement that Australia must accept liability for the damage its policies are causing refugees.

“This was a man who came seeking Australia’s protection. Amnesty International is gravely concerned that he was provided inadequate health care and that his safety was not the paramount consideration,” said Graham Thom, refugee coordinator at Amnesty International Australia. 

“This death is yet another bleak tragedy to arise out of the ongoing suffering and tensions on Manus Island,” he continued. “There must be an independent, impartial, prompt and effective investigation into his death.”

The Human Rights Law Centre echoed Amnesty’s plea to evacuate the centers on Manus and Nauro. 

“Manus and Nauru have always been dead-end arrangements, destined to produce nothing other than misery, suffering and death,” said Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre. “It is fundamentally wrong to leave 2,000 innocent people 169 children trapped on a painful road to nowhere.”

“This man deserved to be treated with basic decency and respect. He deserved a chance to rebuild his life in freedom and safety. Instead, our government chose to be cruel, imprisoning him indefinitely on a remote island in truly awful conditions. He lost his freedom, his hope and ultimately his life. It’s an absolute tragedy.”

Monday’s report is the latest in a series of turbulent events on Manus Island.

Last week, robbers broke into a guesthouse  and reportedly cut a 27-year-old Sudanese man in the leg with a bush knife.

That same week, asylum-seekers confronted guards and police  who were trying to lock gates and clear one of the accommodation compounds ahead of the center’s planned shutdown on Oct. 31.

That confrontation capped days of protests inside the center, as residents feared violence from locals if they were to be pushed from the center into the wider Papua New Guinean community without hope of ever reaching Australia.

This story was first published on HuffPost Australia and was adapted for a global audience.