--- description: Nearly 700 detainees in an Australian offshore detention center on Manus Island, are protesting plans to resettle them on the island title: Hunger Strikers Protest Australian Resettlement Plan image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt261e1cbd5c006bf2/69877aa835ba6f9842c06964/174319951.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Papua New Guinea](/tag/papua-new-guinea/) ## Papua New Guinea Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hundreds of Asylum Seekers Are on Hunger Strike Over Australia's Resettlement Plan by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 19, 2015 7:32 AM CUT  In this handout photo provided by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship, are seen facilities at the Manus Island Regional Processing Facility, used for the detention of asylum seekers who arrive by boat, primarily to Christmas Island off the Australian mainland, on Oct. 16, 2012, on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea In this handout photo provided by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship, are seen facilities at the Manus Island Regional Processing Facility, used for the detention of asylum seekers who arrive by boat, primarily to Christmas Island off the Australian mainland, on Oct. 16, 2012, on Manus Island, Papua New GuineaHandout—Getty Images by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 19, 2015 7:32 AM CUT Nearly 700 detainees, or almost two-thirds of those held in an Australian offshore detention center on Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Manus Island, are on [hunger strike](http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/manus-island-protest-escalates-up-to-700-detainees-on-hunger-strike-20150118-12sszu.html "undefined") to protest Canberra’s plan to permanently resettle them on the island. The hunger strike comes in the wake of a vow by Australia’s recently appointed Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, that Manus Island detainees would “never arrive in Australia,” reports the Sydney _Morning Herald_. During the past week, hundreds of detainees have abstained from food, and some from water, over the government’s plan to move them to the nearby town of Lorengau. As many as 14 have sown their lips together, the _Herald_ says. Visiting Australian medical staff and refugee rights groups say that health facilities on Manus Island center are not equipped to handle the hunger strike. “They don’t have the capacity to handle a hunger strike of even one-tenth of that size,” said Doctors for Refugees member Barri Phatarfod. \[[_Sydney Morning Herald_](http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/manus-island-protest-escalates-up-to-700-detainees-on-hunger-strike-20150118-12sszu.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3673194/australia-manus-island-refugees-papua-new-guinea-hunger-strike/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3673194/australia-manus-island-refugees-papua-new-guinea-hunger-strike/"},"headline":"Hundreds of Asylum Seekers Are on Hunger Strike Over Australia's Resettlement Plan","datePublished":"2015-01-19T07:32:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:08:08.326Z","description":"Several are refusing water and have sown their lips shut","url":"https://time.com/3673194/australia-manus-island-refugees-papua-new-guinea-hunger-strike/","keywords":["Papua New Guinea","Australia","Refugees","Immigration","asylum seekers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt261e1cbd5c006bf2/69877aa835ba6f9842c06964/174319951.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt261e1cbd5c006bf2/69877aa835ba6f9842c06964/174319951.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"(FILE) Manus Island Detention Centre","caption":"(FILE) Manus Island Detention Centre","creditText":"Handout—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/papua-new-guinea/","name":"Papua New Guinea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3673194/australia-manus-island-refugees-papua-new-guinea-hunger-strike/","name":"Hundreds of Asylum Seekers Are on Hunger Strike Over Australia's Resettlement Plan"}}]}] ```