Last refugees in Papua New Guinea to begin leaving ‘within weeks’ after Australian funding runs out

PNG’s chief migration officer, Stanis Hulahau, said of 64 refugees and non-refugees still in the country, more than 40 will be resettled in NZ, while 16 will be transferred to Australia for medical treatment. Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images

The final group of refugees still held in Papua New Guinea a decade after being exiled there by Australia will begin leaving “within weeks”, the country’s migration chief has committed, saying the majority will be resettled in New Zealand, while those suffering acute health problems will be brought to Australia for treatment.

There is an increased urgency to resolve the situations of the final cohort of refugees and asylum seekers left in PNG after the closure of Australia’s illegal offshore detention centre on Manus Island. The Australian public money provided to PNG to care for the men following the closure of Australia’s illegal offshore detention centre on Manus Island has run out, according to PNG officials, leaving the men without vital health services and facing eviction, while local businesses are owned tens of millions of dollars.