The Australian government says a secret funding deal took care of the bill for Manus Island refugees, but some in PNG disagree
Egyptian refugee Faisal Elzeiny is awaiting resettlement after living in detention six years ago. (ABC News: Tim Swanston)
A humanitarian program in Papua New Guinea looking after former detainees of Manus Island is in crisis, with the potential to see about 60 refugees and asylum seekers without a home as soon as Thursday.
The PNG Humanitarian Program was set up to pay for the accommodation, food and health expenses of the refugees and asylum seekers who live in Port Moresby and are awaiting resettlement after the Manus Island detention centre closed.
Australia's Home Affairs department said it paid a substantial sum to PNG to take over “full and independent management” of the living arrangements under a confidential bilateral agreement signed in December 2021.
But PNG's top migration official at the Immigration Citizenship and Services Authority (ICSA) said he was “working with Home Affairs for funding,” and has previously said it was highly likely ICSA could not "sustain the program any longer" without further funding from Australia.
Egyptian refugee Faisal Elzeiny’s life is very different from his detention on Manus Island six years ago.
He now lives with his wife and two young daughters in Port Moresby in accommodation funded by the PNG Humanitarian Program while he waits for resettlement in a third country.
Mr Elzeiny and his family could become homeless on Thursday, with accommodation providers and other services saying they have not been paid for a year.
In a letter written by a group of the providers to PNG's top migration official, the providers say they will withhold services, including accommodation, until the outstanding payments are resolved, giving a Thursday deadline.
That leaves Mr Elzeiny, along with his wife and two children, with no way of leaving PNG and no place to live while they wait.
"They said they will close all accommodation. Where will I go with my wife and my kids? Where?" Mr Elzeiny said.
"I don't know where I will go? Today I told Australian High Commission I will come live opposite Australia High Commission, I'll take a mattress and live there."
Faisal Elzeiny and his family have not received support in two weeks. (ABC News: Tim Swanston)
Mr Elzeiny says he will have no other option than to live on the street with his family.
The chef said he can no longer work because he requires surgery on his spine.
In recent weeks, other services like the food vouchers the family had been receiving have been cut.
Mr Elzeiny's wife Jacklyn, who he met in Madang, said her family hadn't received support in two weeks.
"It's very difficult, I have two kids, we need diapers and food and everything."
Years of waiting for resettlement
After Australia's immigration detention centre on Manus Island closed, the Department of Home Affairs had been paying for accommodation for the remaining men in Port Moresby while their claims and resettlement were being processed.
The centre closed years ago and now only about 60 remain, many of whom are living with their families under the PNG Humanitarian Program.
In December 2021, a confidential deal was struck between the two governments, with Australia giving PNG a "substantial" payment for it to take over the management of the remaining refugees and asylum seekers.
But since then, service providers say PNG's immigration body, ICSA, hasn't paid them all year.
The Elzeiny family lives in Port Moresby as they wait for Faisal to be resettled. (ABC News: Tim Swanston)
In the letter to Chief Migration Officer Stanis Hulahau, the providers say "all access to services provided by us will cease from this date".
"We regret the necessity of such action … but the many assurances we have received of payment being imminent has not yielded any result."
Accommodation provider, Johnny Phillips, who has been providing accommodation to the refugees and asylum seekers for years at Citi Serviced Apartments said he was "owed a lot of money".
"[ICSA] took over payments for six to eight months, then we didn't receive payments from November last year," he said.
Mr Phillips believes about $40 million is owed to the service providers.
In an interview with the ABC last month, PNG's Chief Migration Officer Stanis Hulahau confirmed providers had not been paid this year and said he expected Home Affairs to continue paying for the program in six-month instalments.
That is a view that's been strongly denied by the Department of Home Affairs.
A spokesperson for the department said the agreement meant that as of last year, "the PNG Government assumed full and independent management of individuals remaining in PNG".
"The Department provided PNG with substantial funding to support its independent management of the residual caseload [in] a confidential funding arrangement," the spokesperson said.
Mr Hulahau told the ABC late last week he only saw the letter from providers when it was sent to him for questions.
"Services are currently being provided to the refugees and non-refugees while we continue to work with Home Affairs for funding," he said.
"Regarding outstanding invoices, discussions with Home Affairs have been advanced so am confident we will find a solution soon."
Investigation into use of Australian funds
James Marape said the refugees were guests in PNG and would be looked after. (ABC News: Natalie Whiting)
The PNG Humanitarian Program is now being investigated by the PNG government, following allegations by a whistleblower that the Australian tax-payer funds had been "abused".
Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul described the situation as "desperate" and called on the Australian government to fund services temporarily while working on bringing the refugees and asylum seekers to Australia while they wait for resettlement elsewhere.
"Day by day it gets worse. They have now been left without income or food vouchers for three weeks; some have no electricity," he said.
"[These] refugees can't wait another week — the services are needed now.
"[These] refugees have been in PNG for 10 years, facing one crisis after another. They are owed protection. They need safety and a secure future."
When asked by the ABC at a press conference on Monday, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said the refugees would not "be thrown out on the street".
"They're guests in this country they'll be looked after," he said.
"We need to know who has received what funding for what purposes … I will attend to this as soon as I leave this press conference."