Reports from Papua New Guinea say the healthcare company, International Health and Medical Services may still be allowed to operate on Manus Island.
Manus Island detention centre. Photo: Behrouz Boochani.
IHMS last week said that as of midnight on 31 March, it had been forced to temporarily stop operations at the regional immigration processing centre in order to resolve an ongoing medical licensing issue.
It said the PNG Medical Board asserted that the IHMS clinic was not licensed, but the company claimed it had submitted all the necessary documentation.
Most IHMS staff were scheduled to fly out from Manus yesterday but were called to a meeting where they were told IHMS may have won a reprieve from the Medical Board, which will now register the company.
Remnants of the IHMS staff on Manus have been told to stay on island in the expectation that they could be able to resume work shortly.