Refugee who met his wife on Manus Island pleads to stay

Si Alex Harun Rashid at ang kanyang pamilya, kaparehang si Molly Noan at mga anak na si Mohammed at Almiera Source: SBS News

Not all of the refugees living on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island want to leave. Image: Alex Harun Rashid and his family, partner Molly Noan and children Mohammed and Almiera (SBS News)

A small number have settled there and one of them is pleading with the government to give him citizenship to stay with his young family.

The Rohingya man has two children with his local partner but says he has no documentation to live or work in the country.

He doesn't want to go to Australia but says he wants to spend the rest of his life on the island.

Stefan Armbruster reports.