From drifters to asylum seekers

Abstract

On 16 January 2015, a Manus-born Papua New Guinean posted on Facebook: “To all the security guards that were involved in the recent altercation at the as Camp, mi laik tok faakin good one stret... paitim ol” (I would like to say, fucking good one ... bash them). This was in response to a confrontation in the Manus Regional Processing Centre in Lombrum, Manus, Papua New Guinea (PNG). This confrontation allegedly occurred between security personnel and asylum seekers who had barricaded themselves in one of their compounds.