An Australian court has ordered that a refugee held in Papua New Guinea not be returned to Manus Island until his medical condition is properly diagnosed.
The Manus Island detention centre. Photo: Behrouz Boochani
The man, whose identity is suppressed, has been detained in PNG for more than three years under Australia's hardline policy that detains those who seek asylum by boat on Manus Island.
He had been transferred to PNG's capital, Port Moresby, after he took ill with a serious condition, but authorities attempted to send him back before he was properly diagnosed or assessed.
But a Federal Court in Sydney on Thursday granted an injunction to keep the man in Port Moresby for diagnosis and assessment.
A lawyer representing the man, George Newhouse, said it had taken the man three years to be diagnosed, and his health is at serious risk if he is returned.
"He's spent three years on Manus Island without a proper diagnosis and he's extremely upset and concerned about that situation and it needs to be rectified. And it just goes to show how poor the standard of healthcare is that his condition has not been properly identified and addressed."