The Human Rights Law Centre in Australia says a notice posted inside the Manus Island detention centre on Papua New Guinea has told refugees detained there for the last four years that they can elect to transfer to the Australian Government's other offshore processing facility on Nauru.
Detainees on Manus Island Photo: supplied
The centre's legal advocacy director Daniel Webb said the government was bulldozing the Manus detention centre but the men inside had nowhere to go.
The move comes exactly three weeks before its closure, which was declared unlawful by PNG's highest court in April last year, and follows two recent deaths and a spate of violent attacks against refugees held on the island.
Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian journalist held on Manus, said people were really frustrated and disappointed by this news.
Behrouz Boochani. Photo: Behrouz Boochani
He said after four years of pain the Australian government should transfer them to a safe place, not to another hell.
Mr Webb is asking the government to bring people being warehoused on Manus and Nauru to Australia.