Inside Manus Island

Three days after the Australian Government closed down the Manus Island Detention Centres in Papua New Guinea, shutting off all utilities and services including food, power, water and sanitation, approximately 600 asylum seekers remained behind, fearing for their safety. ‘Smuggled’ inside by boat, Queensland-based photographer Brian Cassey and journalist Rory Callinan were given a total of eighteen minutes inside to document the plight of these abandoned people. The resulting raw and revealing images now form the basis of Inside Manus Detention Centre, a series of Cassey’s work hosted by The Fox Darkroom and Gallery.

Upon entering the camp, Cassey describes the air as ‘one of despair, desperation and … panic’, with the men inside eager to show how they were living. With only three days since the closure, conditions deteriorated rapidly. Without power, the indoor sleeping quarters were unusable due to the searing tropical heat while without water, the men left behind were forced to construct a makeshift well of murky and fetid water, housing it in old rubbish bins. This was the sole source of water used for cooking, cleaning and drinking.

Cassey’s images detail the industrious efforts of these asylum seekers, constructing a well, clearing and sorting out huge piles of rubbish and straining to keep the camp habitable against the odds. Simultaneously, these images are contrasted with candid moments of fear and despair, of men without medical care collapsing in the heat and desperate pleas to not draw the attention of the locals. While many Manusians eagerly provided aid to the abandoned asylum seekers, an active percentage of the local population see these diasporic people as ‘interlopers’ with reports of violent assaults against the foreigners increasing since the move from the camp to the capital of Lorengau. Cassey captures these fears in the image of a small handwritten sign hanging from the camp entrance, begging visitors to not disturb the locals.

For those who always viewed the issues surrounding asylum seekers and the reception of the Australian Government with a far away eye, these images are sure to bring the many challenges facing these people everyday into a vivid and unflinching context. Cassey’s work showcases a harsh reality away from the political rhetoric of Canberra and places it squarely in the realm of people clinging to survival by any means, abandoned by those they thought would help.

Inside Manus Island
8 Elizabeth Street, via laneway, Kensington
thefoxdarkroom.com.au