Pacific

Attacks on Manus Island detainees intensify

15:03 pm on 31 July 2017

An advocate says three attacks on Manus Island detainees in the space of twelve hours show the Papua New Guinea community is not a safe place for refugees to settle.

A Sudanese man and another from Iran were brutally attacked with machetes in two separate incidents over the weekend before an Afghan refugee was mugged on Sunday morning.

The men are amoung 900 refugees and asylum seekers detained on Manus Island for the past four years by Australia.

Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition told Ben Robinson Drawbridge the frequency and severity of the attacks are increasing.

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The gate to Foxtrot compond inside the Manus detention centre. Photo: Refugee Action Coalition