Asylum seekers on Manus Island have written a letter to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton begging him to bring them to Australia, saying they will be killed by locals if they are resettled in Papua New Guinea.
Hundreds of asylum seekers in the compound are refusing food as they protest against the upcoming plan to move them into temporary accommodation on the outskirts of Lorengau, the island's capital. They say it would be more honourable to die from a hunger strike than to be killed by PNG locals.
In a recording obtained by Fairfax Media on the island, asylum seekers can be heard loudly clapping and repetitively chanting: "We don't want PNG! What do you want? Freedom!"
In the recording their chanting then turns to asylum seekers screaming "Freedom" as they whistle and clap their hands.
The escalating protest was first acknowledged by the government on Thursday afternoon after Immigration Minister Peter Dutton previously denied it existed. It is believed to involve more than half of the 1035 detainees in the centre, asylum seekers and refugee advocates have told Fairfax Media.
Refugee advocates also estimate that more than 14 people have sewn their lips together.
A handwritten letter from asylum seekers at the centre's Foxtrot compound says: "We will die in PNG if Australian government resettle us in PNG.
"Take us to Australia please or we will die here.
"Please hear us Mr Peter Dutton. We know you are different, not cruel."
In a separate letter from the Mike compound, the asylum seekers write: "Frustrated refugees are tired of being mistreated and not heard after 18 months in inhumanly [sic] detention decided to act for the last time.
"This time but, all strikers prepared themselves for death. Desperate refugees and asylum seekers stopped eating and drinking and gathered under the open shelter in Mike compound from [Tuesday]."
Last week, Papua New Guinean immigration authorities issued a blunt statement to the asylum seekers, saying those who are given refugee status will need to make PNG their home, "or leave".
The statement said "basic security" would be provided for the refugees in Lorengau but once they left Manus Island, no security would be offered. They would also not be able to gain employment on the small island.
After denying the hunger strike existed, a spokesman for the Minister for Immigration confirmed that some asylum seekers at the centre had stopped eating and drinking.
"There are ... a number of transferees who are refusing food and fluids, again they are being offered appropriate support," he said on Thursday afternoon.
The spokesman also confired that a "small number" of asylum seekers had engaged in self harm.
"They have been offered appropriate medical care."
"The Australian and Papua New Guinean governments remain committed to the regional resettlement arrangements," he said.
Greens Immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said she held grave concerns for the asylum seekers detained in the centre.
"As the level of self-harm escalates it is clear that the refugees inside feel they have nothing more to live for," Senator Hanson-Young said.
"We are a better country than this and the government must start to act with compassion before more harm is done."
A comment has been sought from the PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.
