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”.
Rejecting United Nations calls to restore utilities to the camp, Papua New Guinea this week said it would “apprehend” those responsible for the stand-off when it forcibly evicted the men on Saturday.
But several asylum seekers said Papua New Guinea officials told them detainees could remain until Sunday.
“Police are talking on a microphone outside prison,” Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish journalist from Iran, who has spent more than four years detained in the camp, told Reuters.
“They’re telling the refugees to leave, saying tomorrow will be the last day you are here,” he said in a text message.
