Papua New Guinea Supreme Court Dismisses Request to Transfer Asylum Seekers to Australia (October 27, 2016) [1]
On October 27, 2016, the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court dismissed an application that would have sent asylum seekers currently being held on the isolated Manus Island to Australia. According to coverage [3] of the ruling, the application would have given the government of Papua New Guinea thirty days to transfer the asylum seekers. As documented by a report [4] from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Australia’s immigration laws send asylum seekers intercepted by boat to Manus Island or Nauru to be processed. The Court rejected the application on a technicality; the court filings were signed by the principal lawyer instead of the direct claimants. The detainees plan to refile the application. This ruling comes in the wake of the recent decision [5] to close the facilities on Papua New Guinea.