A crowd of locals has attacked a Boroko hotel in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday 19 February) leaving three refugees injured and others fearing for their lives.
The crowd was yelling, “We will kill you; get out of our country.” The crowd threw rocks and fought with refugees as they tried to gain entry to the hotel. (Photos of the gate attached.)
Around 1.30 am police finally arrived and dispersed the crowd with gunshots.
Eighteen refuges are accommodated at the Boroko hotel. All security for the refugee was withdrawn late last year when the refugees, previously held on Manus Island, were spread around a number of hotels in the suburbs of Port Moresby.
The three refugees were injured as they tried to prevent the crowd entering the hotel, after local security guards ran away. Two have injuries from rocks thrown by the crowd. One Sudanese refugee had his leg broken as he defended the gate to the hotel. He was admitted to the Pacific International Hotel this morning.
The attack has once again highlighted the lack of safety for refugees being housed in Port Moresby.
Refugees are often targeted any time when they leave the grounds of the hotel, but this is the first serious attack on the hotel itself.
“We are not safe here,” one Sudanese refugee at the hotel told the Refugee Action Coalition, “What is going to happen tonight? We know the people who attacked us. They live around the hotel. We can still see them around this morning.”
A meeting with the discredited refugee service provider JDA was due to happen at the hotel this morning.
“All refugees in Port Moresby need real security,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, “Security at the hotels must be immediately re-instated.
“The attack highlights the dangers refugees face in PNG. After almost seven years, they have no security, no certainty and they have no future. The government has no resettlement options . All the refugees and asylum seekers should be brought to Australia and given the protection they asked for in 2013.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
