SYDNEY: The UN warned of a deepening crisis Tuesday after another asylum-seeker was found dead at a Pacific island detention camp, urging Australia to ensure protection for vulnerable refugees as closure of the facility nears.
Canberra sends anyone who tries to enter the country by boat without a visa to remote processing facilities in Nauru and on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, with no hope of being settled in Australia.
A PNG court ruled last year that holding people on Manus was unconstitutional, and the camp is set to shut in October, with tensions rising.
The death on Manus Monday of a 28-year-old Iranian refugee, who was found hanging from a tree by children near their school, “highlights the precarious situation for vulnerable people” there, the UN Refugee Agency said in a statement.
It added that it was “gravely concerned” by the deteriorating conditions and warned of an “escalating crisis.”
About 800 men are held on Manus and the UN says they have been told to relocate elsewhere in PNG or return to their country of origin. Medical and security services are due to cease in October.
“The announcement of the closure of the center, in the absence of appropriate alternatives, is causing acute distress among refugees and asylum-seekers,” the UN Refugee Agency said in a statement.
“Many fear for their safety outside the center, particularly in the wake of several violent incidents in recent years.”
There have been allegations of assault and threats against refugees by local residents, with the Manus camp being targeted in the past.
Refugees have been offered a transfer to impoverished Cambodia or to be assessed for entry to the United States, although it remains unclear how many Washington will accept with President Donald Trump reluctant to resettle any.
Conditions in the camp, and the other one on Nauru, have been criticized by refugee advocates and medical professionals, with reports of widespread abuse, self-harm and mental health problems.
Rights groups said the Iranian was the fifth held on Manus to die since Canberra’s offshore regime began in July 2013.
PNG police have ruled out foul play but refugee support groups have raised doubts over the declaration.
Canberra has long held that even those attempting to arrive by boat subsequently found to be genuine refugees would never be allowed to settle in Australia.
The UN last month accused the Australian government of backing out of a commitment to relax its strong stance and resettle some refugees held offshore with family ties in Australia.
It again renewed its call Monday for Canberra “to urgently find viable, humane solutions outside of Papua New Guinea and Nauru for those remaining under offshore processing arrangements.”
’Escalating crisis’ as Pacific refugee camp closure looms: UN
’Escalating crisis’ as Pacific refugee camp closure looms: UN
Agonizing wait as Switzerland works to identify New Year’s fire victims
- Authorities begin moving bodies from burned-out bar in luxury ski resor Crans-Montana
- At least 40 people were killed in one of Switzerland's worst tragedies
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland: Families endured an agonizing wait for news of their loved ones Friday as Swiss investigators rushed to identify victims of a ski resort fire at a New Year’s celebration that killed at least 40 people.
Authorities began moving bodies from the burned-out bar in the luxury ski resort town Crans-Montana late Friday morning, with the first silver-colored hearse rolling into the funeral center in nearby Sion shortly after 11:00 am (1000 GMT), AFP journalists saw.
Around 115 people were also injured in the fire, many of them critical condition.
As the scope of the tragedy — one of Switzerland’s worst — began to sink in, Crans-Montana appeared enveloped in a stunned silence.
“The atmosphere is heavy,” Dejan Bajic, a 56-year-old tourist from Geneva who has been coming to the resort since 1974, told AFP.
“It’s like a small village; everyone knows someone who knows someone who’s been affected,” he said.
It is not yet clear what set off the blaze at Le Constellation, a bar popular with young tourists, at around 1:30 am (0030 GMT) Thursday.
Bystanders described scenes of panic and chaos as people tried to break the windows to escape and others, covered in burns, poured into the street.
‘Screaming in pain’
Edmond Cocquyt, a Belgian tourist, told AFP he had seen “bodies lying here, ... covered with a white sheet,” and “young people, totally burned, who were still alive... Screaming in pain.”
The exact death toll was still being established.
And it could rise, with canton president Mathias Reynard telling the regional newspaper Wallizer Bote that at least 80 of the 115 injured were in critical condition.
Swiss authorities warned it could take days to identify everyone who perished, an agonizing wait for family and friends.
Condolences poured in from around the world, including from Pope Leo XIV, who offered “compassion and solidarity” to victims’ families.
Online, desperate appeals abound to find the missing.
“We’ve tried to reach our friends. We took loads of photos and posted them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible social networks to try to find them,” said Eleonore, 17. “But there’s nothing. No response.”
‘The apocalypse’
The exact number of people who were at the bar when it went up in flames remains unclear.
Le Constellation had a capacity of 300 people, plus another 40 people on its terrace, according to the Crans-Montana website.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who took office on Thursday, called the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” and announced that flags would be flown at half-mast for five days.
“We thought it was just a small fire — but when we got there, it was war,” Mathys, from the neighboring village of Chermignon-d’en-Bas, told AFP. “That’s the only word I can use to describe it: the apocalypse.”
Authorities have declined to speculate on what caused the tragedy, saying only that it was not an attack.
Several witness accounts, broadcast by various media, pointed to sparklers mounted on champagne bottles and held aloft by restaurant staff as part of a regular “show” for patrons.
‘Dramatic’
Pictures and videos shared on social media also showed sparklers on champagne bottles held into the air, as an orange glow began spreading across the ceiling.
One video showed the flames advancing quickly as revellers initially continued to dance.
One young man playfully attempted to extinguish the flames with a large white cloth, but the scene became panic-stricken as people scrambled and screamed in the dark against a backdrop of smoke and flames.
The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said investigators would examine whether the bar met safety standards.
Red and white caution tape, flowers and candles adorned the street outside, while police shielded the site with white screens.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said 13 Italians had been injured in the fire, and six remained missing, was among those to lay flowers at the site.
The French foreign ministry said nine French citizens figured among the injured, and eight others remained unaccounted for.
After emergency units at local hospitals filled, many of the injured were transported across Switzerland and beyond.
Patients are being treated in Italy, France and Germany, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country was ready to provide “specialized medical care to 14 injured.”
Multiple sources told AFP the bar owners were French nationals: a couple originally from Corsica who, according to a relative, are safe, but have been unreachable since the tragedy.
