The lawyer representing more than 730 refugee and asylum seeker men in Papua New Guinea has vowed to keep fighting for compensation after the supreme court threw out their case on a technicality.
The group had sought compensation for unlawful detention and the opportunity to apply for PNG travel documents, which would allow resettlement in other countries.
The case hinged on the PNG constitution, and two clauses related to enforcement of rights, and compensation.
The court ruled there was no element of “constitutional enforcement” because the detention centre on Manus Island where the men had been held closed in 2017.
In April, the PNG government had sought a dismissal of the compensation claims. No decision was delivered for more than six months, prompting the group to petition the court asking for it to make a ruling.
On Tuesday the court dismissed the claim, suggesting they had petitioned the wrong jurisdiction and should have instead gone to the national court.
Ben Lomai, representing the group, questioned why it took so long to make the short judgment, which he also labelled “hasty” and incorrect according to law.
“They haven’t discussed tben he other issues we raised,” Lomai told Guardian Australia. “In this case they said: we’re not deciding on compensation, go back to the national court.
“As a consequence they dismissed the entire application, which was wrong. The other part of the claim was for resettlement and they’ve overlooked it.”
The group was seeking orders for the PNG government to issue travel documents so they could resettle in a third-party country, either through its government programs or through private sponsorship.
“If a refugee is sponsored, then obviously he has to have proper travel documents to travel,” Lomai said earlier this month. “Other than that, we’re waiting for the US or some arrangement between the Australian and New Zealand governments, that would be a way forward for other asylum.”
Lomai said he would be seeking instructions from his clients about the next step, but they would likely now go to the national court to pursue compensation, and perhaps appeal to the supreme court to “correct” their ruling.
“Because it’s taken five years now we’ll be considering that as a factor now,” he said.
Behrouz Boochani, the lead applicant in the case, accused the court of playing a “game” with the applicants by hearing the case and appeals for three years before then saying it couldn’t consider it.
“It’s beyond injustice, they could have told us this years ago,” he said. “I am willing to continue this fight through the national court to at least prove there is no justice for us.”
There are 636 single adult males still being held in PNG, including 495 refugees and 131 failed asylum seekers. At least another 146 have been settled in the US.
An unknown number of men have been moved to Port Moresby for health treatment, amid high levels of physical and mental illness. PNG is suffering from an under-resourced health system and widespread medication shortages.
Earlier this week a man was violently assaulted in Lorengau, where those not in Port Moresby have lived in accommodation units since the detention centre was shut down late last year.