CANBERRA: The Australian government on Wednesday agreed to pay detainees on Manus Island more than A$70 million ($53 million) in the “largest settlement in a human rights class-action” in the country’s history.Over 1,900 asylum seekers who were held, or are currently being held, at the government’s offshore detention centre on the island filed a class action suit claiming that the government did not deliver on its duty of care by housing them in.The detainees claimed they were exposed to conditions which were not up to Australian standards between 2012 and 2016. The class action was brought on behalf of the men who were detained on the island from November 2012 to December 2014, against the Commonwealth of Australia and its contracted service providers G4S and Broadspectrum (formerly known as Transfield). The settlement could potentially lead to the withdrawal of a separate legal action in Papua New Guinea alleging false imprisonment against the PNG government, which lawyers estimated could be worth at least AUS$150m for about 1000 detainees. Lawyers Slater and Gordon said they believed it was the largest human rights class action settlement in Australian history, with the defendants also agreeing to pay costs of more than Aus$20 million.a

"The people detained on Manus Island have endured extremely hostile conditions, but they will no longer suffer in silence," said Andrew Baker, from the law firm. "This case is not just about me, it is about every person who has been trapped on Manus Island," said Kamasaee, who was held there for 11 months

"I left my home in Iran in 2013 because of religious persecution and I came to Australia seeking peace, but I was sent to Manus, which was hell.
Australia agrees to pay AUS$70 million in compensation to 1,905 people who have been detained on Manus Island since 2012, so avoiding a public trial against the government and the Transfield and G4S private companies for the detainees' degrading and cruel treatment.