Friday, October 21, 2016
Pre-attack: Masoud Ali Shiekh, a Somali refugee and former aid worker based on Manus Island. Photo: Matthew Abbott
SYDNEY – A Somali refugee held at the Australia-run detention center in Manus Island was viciously attacked recently, a human rights group said last week, asking the government to bring those being held to Australia.
"The man, Masoud Ali Shiekh, was set upon by a group of locals with rocks in an unprovoked attack as he walked a friend to the bus stop near the transit centre at East Lorengau on Saturday," Sydney-based Human Rights Law Centre said in a statement.
"He suffered head injuries in the incident."
There are more than 800 refugees at the Manus Island detention facility in Papua New Guinea, which has vowed to shut it down after the country's Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in April.
"Continuing violent attacks against refugees on Manus Island are further evidence that Australia's offshore detention centers must close and that the innocent people held there for the last three years must be brought to safety in Australia," the center said.
So far only 24 people in Manus have resettled in Papua New Guinea. At least 560 people in the centre have been determined as genuine refugees who need asylum.
Mr Shiekh says he was hit with a rock when a group of young men confronted him near the transit centre. Photo: Supplied
Shiekh, 27, is one of the "genuine refugees."
Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, said he had met Shiekh during his visit to Manus Island earlier this year.
"Masoud really tried. He volunteered with a local organization supporting people with disabilities. He studied the local language. He tried to make local friends. ... But even for Masoud, Manus has proven to be a harmful and dangerous dead end," said Webb.