Asylum seekers in Manus Island swallow razor blades for self-destruction

#manusisland #asylumseeker #hungerstrike #razorblade Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea is where asylum seekers headed for Australia are kept while their cases are processed. Right now there are nearly 700 of them in the Australian immigration center and, unable to gain entry into Australia, the have resorted to hunger strike and other self-destruction methods like swallowing razor blades, sewing their lips together, or even trying to hang themselves.
Many of these asylum seekers arrive in the Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea, at times in unsafe boats after paying people-smugglers in Indonesia.
However, this attempts to commit suicide appears to contradict the claims of the government that protests had ended after security guards had stormed the compound and allegedly took some detainees into solitary confinement.
The hunger strikes had begun last week has entered its 9th day. It started after the detainees who were granted refugee status were told that they would be shifted out of the detention center and moved into an unguarded facility in the capital of Lorengau. The seekers felt that such a move would lead to attacks by locals.
The fears are genuine because Manus Island is one of the poorest regions of Papua New Guinea and the locals have repeatedly expressed anger at the prospect of refugees being resettled in a community that is already starved of employment opportunities.
Incidentally, journalists are not allowed to go to Manus Island, hence, it is difficult to verify information about the protests.