There's more pressure from the Catholic Church on Papua New Guinea and Australian authorities regarding the plight of refugees on Manus Island.
Refugees on Manus Island protest at the West Lorengau Transit Centre, 9-2-19. Photo: Facebook
The president of PNG's Catholic Professionals Society Paul Harricknen said both governments must stop holding 600 refugees on Manus as it is unlawful.
In 2016, PNG's Supreme Court ruled that holding men on Manus against their will was unconstitutional.
PNG's government said the men are no longer detained on Manus.
But Mr Harricknen said the men have no freedom, are monitored and are kept there against their will.
"Close to most of them do not want to stay in PNG, because in the first place PNG was not their destination.
"And for them to be brought here and detained and continue to be detained, whether you keep them on Manus, whether the detention centre is closed, whether you keep them in a hotel and give them money and expect them to run around, that's still detention."
Mr Harricknen's comments come after the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea slammed the detention of refugees on Manus Island as "untenable and even absurd".
The General secretary of the conference Giorgio Licini called for a dignified ending to Australia's indefinite detention of the men in PNG.