The lawyer representing asylum seekers detained on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island says his team is already working on a new application to return the detainees to Australia.
A protest outside an immigration office in Sydney, Australia in February, 2016 calls for asylum seekers to settled in Australia. Photo: AFP
Yesterday, the PNG Supreme court dismissed two similar applications as the lawyer had signed them on behalf of his clients.
It followed the court's ruling in April that the detention of asylum seekers in PNG is illegal.
The lawyer, Ben Lomai, said opposing counsel were able to exploit an inconsistency in the court's rules that resulted in a split decision of the three-judge bench against him.
Asylum seekers in Manus Island centre protesting against resettlement plans Photo: Supplied by Refugee Action Coalition
He said he hopes to file the new application next week with the signatures of about a thousand asylum seekers detained on Manus Island.
"One of our guys is already there and we just sent another guy from Sydney going in this morning."
"Otherwise I will go in myself and get everybody done, but I have already notified all of the asylum seekers. They're disappointed with the decision, but they know that eventually justice will prevail."
The Supreme Court is unlikely to hear the new application until next year Mr Lomai said.