However, the characterization of intent and context requires nuance.
**What Occurred:**
On 31 October 2017, as the Manus Regional Processing Centre (RPC) was formally closed, essential services including water and power were shut off [1].
Refugees who refused to relocate were left without access to water for extended periods—some 379 men remaining in the centre for 23 days without water, electricity, or adequate food provision [4].
**Context of Closure:**
The closure followed an April 2016 Papua New Guinea Supreme Court decision that found the detention of asylum seekers at Manus Island RPC was illegal and unconstitutional [5].
In April 2017, the Australian Government announced the facility would close by 31 October 2017, with all detainees transferred to alternative accommodation [6].
**The Alternative Facilities:**
Refugees were directed to move to alternative "open" accommodation near Lorengau, including the East Lorengau Transit Centre and West Lorengau House [7].
However, according to UN officials, these sites were "not ready" for inhabitants, still under construction, and inadequately designed to accommodate the number of people expected [8].
The claim presents a complete picture of what happened, but important context is omitted:
1. **Legal Requirement:** The closure was legally mandated by the PNG Supreme Court, not merely a discretionary policy decision.
The Australian Government, while responsible for the policy arrangement, was technically complying with a foreign nation's court order.
2. **PNG Government Agency:** While the water destruction involved PNG officials carrying out the physical actions, the claim could be interpreted as attributing all responsibility to Australia.
Infrastructure Destruction:** A distinction exists between (a) cutting off water supply—a standard utility shutdown—and (b) deliberately destroying the infrastructure itself (smashing taps, filling wells).
This suggests a deliberate coercion strategy beyond simple service termination.
4. **Stated Government Position on Responsibility:** Following closure, Australian officials stated that Australia's legal responsibility for refugee welfare ended with the facility's closure, with PNG becoming fully responsible for anyone remaining on PNG soil [13].
However, this position was controversial given Australia's role in establishing and managing the detention arrangement.
5. **Conditions of Alternative Facilities:** The claim's reference to "unfinished alternative sites" is accurate but understated.
Not only were facilities incomplete, but security was inadequate, medical services were insufficient, and there had been documented incidents of violence and robbery by local PNG residents against refugees [14].
The article in question appears to be reporting on documented events that are corroborated by major international news organizations and human rights groups, suggesting the factual core is reliable, though framing and emphasis may reflect editorial perspective [15].
**Search Results Credibility Hierarchy:**
The evidence for water destruction and services shutdown comes from multiple credible sources:
- **CNN and Al Jazeera:** Mainstream international news reporting on-site accounts [16]
- **UN Officials:** Direct statements about condition of alternative facilities [17]
- **Human Rights Organizations:** Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Refugee Council of Australia documenting the events [18]
- **Academic Sources:** University-affiliated research analyzing the closure process [19]
In August 2012, the Labor Government under Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the resumption of transferring asylum seekers intercepted at sea to Nauru and Manus Island, reviving the "Pacific Solution" from the Howard era [20].
This was a significant policy shift by Labor in response to increasing boat arrivals.
**Did Labor also use harsh conditions as deterrent?**
In July 2013, Labor announced a further policy change: asylum seekers arriving after 19 July 2013 would be transferred offshore and, if found to be owed refugee protection, would be permanently banned from settlement in Australia—a harsh deterrent policy [21].
This was arguably even more stringent than Coalition policies, as it permanently excluded people determined to be refugees from resettlement in Australia.
**How did Coalition policies differ?**
When the Coalition took office in September 2013, they continued and expanded offshore processing.
The Coalition's primary addition was hardening the messaging ("stop the boats") and maintaining the ban on settlement for those arriving offshore, but they inherited the basic policy structure from Labor [22].
**Key Finding:** Offshore detention policy originated under Labor (2012), was accelerated by Labor (July 2013), and then implemented/continued by the Coalition (2013-2022).
* * * *
The harsh deterrent approach using poor conditions was present under both governments, though the Coalition's public messaging emphasized deterrence more explicitly [23].
**Criticisms and Human Rights Concerns:**
Critics argue—and documented evidence supports—that destroying water supplies constituted a deliberate form of coercion and potentially violated humanitarian and human rights principles [24].
The destruction of rainwater collection infrastructure, in particular, appears to have been designed to make conditions untenable, forcing refugees out of the centre and into inadequate alternative facilities.
The resulting 23-day period without water, food, or electricity for men who had not voluntarily left represented what investigators characterized as a humanitarian crisis [26].
Reports documented that some refugees were forced to store water in garbage bins and that donations of food and water by sympathetic locals were destroyed by police [27].
**Government Justification and Context:**
The Australian Government's position was that the closure was legally required by Papua New Guinea's court order, and that Australia's legal responsibility ended with facility closure, with PNG assuming responsibility [28].
The closure date was publicly announced well in advance (April 2017 announcement for October 2017 closure), giving detainees months to prepare for relocation [29].
The alternative facilities, while incomplete and inadequate, were intended as "open" accommodation where residents could move freely in the community—a status that was theoretically preferable to locked detention, even if practical implementation fell short [30].
The government also argued that indefinite detention was unsustainable and that closure was necessary to comply with the PNG court ruling.
**Assessment of Intent:**
The term "deliberately destroyed" is accurate in a narrow sense—taps were intentionally smashed and wells filled, which were deliberate acts.
However, whether this constitutes a deliberate strategy specifically "to force refugees into unfinished sites" versus a routine facility shutdown with harsh methods is a matter of interpretation.
Evidence suggests the water destruction was part of a systematic coercion strategy to empty the facility, as restrictions on food and medications occurred simultaneously [31].
In that narrow sense, the characterization of deliberate intent appears justified.
**Comparative Context:**
Both Labor and Coalition governments used offshore detention with harsh conditions as a deterrent policy.
The specific 2017 closure, however, occurred under Coalition management and involved particularly harsh methods documented by multiple independent observers [32].
The factual core of the claim is accurate: water supplies were deliberately destroyed at Manus Island detention centre, and this occurred as the facility was being closed with refugees being transferred to alternative sites [33].
However, the claim oversimplifies by:
1. **Attribution:** The physical destruction was carried out by PNG officials, not Australian officials directly, though Australia was responsible for the policy and closure decision [35]
2. **Legal Context:** The closure was legally mandated by PNG's Supreme Court, not merely a discretionary Australian policy choice [36]
3. **Alternative Sites Status:** The description "unfinished" is accurate but somewhat understates the serious inadequacies (lack of security, insufficient medical services, documented violence from locals) [37]
4. **Broader Policy Context:** This coercive approach wasn't unique to the Coalition—Labor initiated offshore detention and used similarly harsh deterrent strategies [38]
The claim is factually true in its core assertion but incomplete in context.
A fully accurate statement would acknowledge it was court-ordered closure policy implemented with harsh methods by PNG officials under Australian policy direction, and that both major parties pursued offshore detention with deterrent approaches.
The factual core of the claim is accurate: water supplies were deliberately destroyed at Manus Island detention centre, and this occurred as the facility was being closed with refugees being transferred to alternative sites [33].
However, the claim oversimplifies by:
1. **Attribution:** The physical destruction was carried out by PNG officials, not Australian officials directly, though Australia was responsible for the policy and closure decision [35]
2. **Legal Context:** The closure was legally mandated by PNG's Supreme Court, not merely a discretionary Australian policy choice [36]
3. **Alternative Sites Status:** The description "unfinished" is accurate but somewhat understates the serious inadequacies (lack of security, insufficient medical services, documented violence from locals) [37]
4. **Broader Policy Context:** This coercive approach wasn't unique to the Coalition—Labor initiated offshore detention and used similarly harsh deterrent strategies [38]
The claim is factually true in its core assertion but incomplete in context.
A fully accurate statement would acknowledge it was court-ordered closure policy implemented with harsh methods by PNG officials under Australian policy direction, and that both major parties pursued offshore detention with deterrent approaches.