PNG Supreme Court begins final hearing on asylum seeker resettlements

By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court on Thursday began a final hearing to determine whether Australia must resettle hundreds of asylum seekers held for years in an Australian-funded detention centre on a PNG island. Australia has vowed the asylum seekers will never set foot in the country, after being intercepted by its navy sailing from Indonesia and shipped to Manus island detention centre. Resettling the detainees in Australia would be a political nightmare for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, as the tough offshore detention policy has won past elections and has bipartisan political support. Many of the asylum seekers have spent three years in the centre, which the Supreme Court ruled in April was unconstitutional and must close. For men like Abdul Aziz, 24, who fled his home in Sudan amid a bloody civil war, the court case has stirred hopes of finally leaving the centre he has called home for 38 months. "I'm optimistic that after the court case, I will be sent back to Australia. We are keeping our fingers crossed," Aziz told Reuters by telephone. "We sought asylum from Australia, not PNG." A group of 302 asylum seekers have applied to the court to be resettled in Australia or a third country. If the court grants the judgment, it would order the PNG and Australian governments to transfer detainees to Australia within 30 days. Those that do not wish to go to Australia, the governments must transfer to a third country. A ruling in favour of the 302 detainees would set a precedent for all 823 detainees, asylum seekers predominately from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. "The earlier (court) decision applied considerable political pressure already and Australia is no doubt negotiating with PNG (for a solution)," said Amy Maguire, senior lecturer in international law at the University of Newcastle. The Australia government has said it is working with PNG to find a permanent home for the men. Under Australia's laws, asylum seekers intercepted trying to reach the country by boat are sent for processing in detention centres on Manus island and the South Pacific island nation of Nauru. The United Nations and human rights groups have condemned the policy, citing human rights abuses in the centres. Australia says its border security policy is aimed at saving lives. Aziz twice attempted to make it to Australia. On his first attempt after leaving Indonesia, five of his friends died when their boat sank. (Editing by Michael Perry)