Asylum-seekers given 24-hour reprieve from Manus eviction

Papua New Guinea authorities will delay by at least 24 hours a plan to forcibly evict hundreds of men from an abandoned Australian detention center, three asylum seekers said on Saturday afternoon.

Hundreds of men have barricaded themselves into the Manus island center for more than 11 days without regular food or water, defying closure bids by Australia and Papua New Guinea in what the United Nations calls a “looming humanitarian crisis”.