Local Guards Reportedly Seize Refugee Camps in Lorengau, Manus Island
Category: Instability
Severity: 3 (Moderate)
Source: Drum Cussac
01/15/2018 (Papua New Guinea) - According to regional media sources on Monday, 15 January, guards with the local security company Kingfisher have reportedly seized control of the West and Hillside Hauses refugee camps in Lorengau on Manus Island. It is indicated that the guards expelled security staff from the company Paladin Solutions PNG Ltd, which had been contracted by the government to guard the sites. The Paladin personell had previously been hired to re-take control of the camps after asylum seekers rioted and seized control of the camps in late December 2017.
Clients in Manus are advised to stay clear of the aforementioned refugee camps in order to limit the chances of being affected by incidental violence and opportunistic crime. Security forces tend to utilise heavy-handed police crowd-dispersal methods and have a record of using force against asylum seekers within PNG. Travellers should monitor local media sources for any further information and heed any directives issued by the authorities.
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