Australia: Rights Law and Refugee Convention

australia: We call on the Australian government ... who interned the men in the first place to immediately provide protection, food, water and other basic services, UN rights spokesperson Rupert Colville told a news briefing, according to CBC. Australia has an obligation to do so under international human rights law and the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, he said. The detainees in the Manus Island Centre have defied attempts by the governments of both Australia and PNG to close the camp, saying they fear violent reprisals from the local community if they are moved to other transit centres. There was no immediate comment from Australia or its representatives in Geneva. Colville joined the UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR in warning of an unfolding humanitarian emergency in the centre where asylum seekers began digging wells on Thursday to try to find water as their food supplies dwindled. Its government has said the camp had been ruled illegal by PNG authorities and it had committed to supply other sites for 12 months. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.