| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (45 min. 52 sec.) ; 275529241 bytes |
| Summary |
The Manus Island Regional Processing Centre, located off the north east coast of Papua New Guinea, is eight hundred kilometres from the country's capital, Port Moresby, and even further away from Canberra. Last July, when Kevin Rudd announced that asylum seekers arriving by boat would be sent to Manus and settled in PNG, many thought they would be out of sight and out of mind. All that changed earlier this year.On the 16th and 17th February violent confrontations at the centre left one man dead and dozens injured. There are now at least four inquiries under way investigating the violence. There is still no official public explanation of what happened during those two days.Next on Four Corners, reporter Geoff Thompson puts together the most comprehensive account yet of what took place in and around the processing centre in February this year.Speaking to eyewitnesses Thompson learns of the festering bitterness that developed between locals and asylum seekers in the weeks and months leading up to the violence. He reveals how the Papua New Guinea Government's failure to set up a processing and resettlement system created the pre-conditions for protest and disorder. The program also investigates the role played by local civilians and local security guards in the assaults at the processing centre.The story raises serious questions about the way the camp was set up, the staff it employed, the way it was run and asks: are asylum seekers safe on the island and could this happen again? As one witness put it:"I'd say that within a week of arriving on Manus Island I formed the opinion ... there is no other possible outcome that can occur on this island than bloodshed." |
| Event |
Broadcast 2014-04-28 at 20:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: NC |
| Subject |
Noncitizen detention centers.
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Assault and battery.
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Murder -- Investigation.
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Refugees -- Protection.
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Riots.
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Refugees -- Abuse of.
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Australia.
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Papua New Guinea -- Manus Island.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
O'Brien, Kerry, host
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Thompson, Geoff, reporter
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Kilburn, Steve, contributor
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Morrison, Scott, contributor
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