'No hope now' -- Manus refugee resettled to PNG now destitute

SBS World News Radio: One of the first refugees resettled in Papua New Guinea from the Manus Island detention centre says he is destitute, with no support services and suffering from mental and physical sickness in the capital Port Moresby.

'No hope now' -- Manus refugee resettled to PNG now destitute 'No hope now' -- Manus refugee resettled to PNG now destitute

'No hope now' -- Manus refugee resettled to PNG now destitute

The Catholic Church has now taken in the young Iranian while he is on bail over a fake-passport charge.

Papua New Guinea will have to resettle many more like him when the centre shuts in October, especially if the planned United States refugee swap fails to provide a new home.

Loghman Sawari was one of the first refugees from Manus Island to be resettled in Papua New Guinea.

He now lives in the country's capital, Port Moresby.

"This is my place to sleep."

His room is the mess that might be expected of many 21-year-olds.

It is in a Catholic Church compound in Port Moresby, frequently rated one of the world's least livable cities.

"Sometimes it's not safe even for the local people. Sometimes, I'm not saying all the time, sometimes you can hear the shot of the gun."

Loghman Sawari rarely leaves his room, angst-ridden from his bitter experiences on Manus.

"I told you, I'm at the end of the game. I have zero, I have no hope now. Honestly, no hope. When people say, 'We are going to go to America', I say, 'No America.' From the first day, I said it, 'No America.' I know that it is a game."

Father John Auram, the superior of the Passionist Order in Moresby, has taken the Iranian refugee in and says what he sees upsets him.

"When Loghman sits down and talks about all those things going on in his life, I'm angry. Some of those treatments not human at all, they're inhuman treatments."

Sent as a 17-year-old youth into adult detention on Manus, Mr Sawari was taking anti-depressants like Prozac when he was resettled from the now-illegal, Australian-run centre.

"This is one of the medication they put me (on)."

He has long-term medical problems affecting his digestive system and shows scans of internal stomach bleeding.

"This is the records from the hospital they gave me last time I had my stomach (problem)."

He gets no money for resettlement, has no identification card or visa and no job.

"After so long, I'm a refugee, and I (still) have not been given an ID card to show people my name. I have nothing. No support from immigration, no anything, like a place to stay. If the church didn't give me a place to stay, I believe I'd have to sleep on the road."

The church has offered him a room and psychological support.

Once the Manus Island detention centre shuts, hundreds more refugees will be forced to resettle in Papua New Guinea.

Father John Auram fears that, like the very few refugees resettled already, they will face a very uncertain future.

"My biggest concern is, 'Do they offer any support for these people?' Because, in hearing Loghman's story, sometimes they get really, really mad, and, before you want to take them out of camp, you want to kill yourself in there first."

In desperation, earlier this year, Loghman Sawari fled to Fiji on a false passport.

But he was deported back again and now faces charges.

"It was a mistake, and I say sorry to the government ... (for) what I did."

On Manus Island, the refugees are awaiting word on the US deal, or, indeed, on any news of where they will end up.

"I'm the one, the first one, who came here, and I have to say that it is not safe to bring all of these people here. After so long playing with their mind while in detention, they make them mental (ill), and now they're going to bring them here, or send them to another country. I don't think it is any way to settle them properly."

 






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