Manus Island
{{Not to be confused|Manaus}}{{Short description|Island within Manus Province, Papua New Guinea}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Manus Island
| image_name = Manus Island.png
| image_caption = Location of the Manus Island among the Admiralty Islands
| image_size = 250px
| map = Papua New Guinea
| map_caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_link =
| nickname =
| location =
| coordinates = {{Coord|2.1|S|146.9|E|scale:400000_type:isle_region:PG|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago = Admiralty Islands
| total_islands =
| major_islands =
| area_km2 = 2100
| length_km = 100
| width_km = 30
| highest_mount = Mt. Dremsel
| elevation_m = 718
| country = Papua New Guinea (PNG)
| country_admin_divisions_title = Province
| country_admin_divisions = Manus Province
| country_largest_city = Lorengau
| country_largest_city_population = 5,829
| population_as_of = 2011
| density_km2 =
| ethnic_groups =
}}
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of {{cvt|2100|km2|sqmi|sigfig=2}}, measuring around {{cvt|100|x|30|km|mi|sigfig=1}}. Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. The highest point on Manus Island is Mt. Dremsel, {{convert|718|m}} above sea level at the centre of the south coast. Manus Island is volcanic in origin and probably broke through the ocean's surface in the late Miocene, 8 to 10 million years ago. The substrate of the island is either directly volcanic or from uplifted coral limestone.
Lorengau, the capital of Manus Province, is located on the island. Momote Airport, the terminal for Manus Province, is located on nearby Los Negros Island. A bridge connects Los Negros Island to Manus Island and the provincial capital of Lorengau. In the 2000 census, the whole Manus Province had a population of 50,321. The Austronesian Manus languages are spoken on the island.
Papua New Guinea allowed the government of Australia to run a controversial offshore immigration detention centre, the Manus Regional Processing Centre, which was situated on adjacent Los Negros Island from 2001 to 2017, to house asylum seekers arriving by boat found within Australia's defined territorial borders.
Manus Island is home to the endemic emerald green snail, whose shells were harvested to be sold as jewellery; this continues, albeit at a lesser scale, as due to the snail's status as a threatened species, its sale for this purpose is now illegal in many jurisdictions.
History
The first recorded sighting of Manus Island by Europeans was by Spanish explorer Álvaro de Saavedra on board the carrack Florida on 15 August 1528, while trying to return to New Spain from the Maluku Islands. Saavedra circled Manus Island, and landed possibly on Murai islet to the south west. Murai was found to be inhabited and some natives came out in canoes, attacking with bows and arrows. Three of these men were captured by the Spaniards, and were returned by Saavedra to the same island, on his second attempt to return to North America the following year. Manus Island was charted as Urays la Grande or Big Urays, which is probably a projection of Murai to signify "big Murai".{{cite book |last1=Sharp |first1=Andrew |title=The discovery of the Pacific Islands |url=https://archive.org/details/discoveryofpacif0000shar |url-access=registration |date=1960 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |pages=[https://archive.org/details/discoveryofpacif0000shar/page/19 19], 20}}
= World War II =
In World War II Manus Island was the site of an observation post manned by No. 4 Section, 'B' Platoon, 1st Independent Company, Australian Imperial Force,{{cite web |first=L |last=Klemen |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/manus.html |title=Manus Island, experience of No. 4 Section, 'B' Platoon, First Independent Company, Australian Imperial Force |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942 |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=14 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314025718/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/manus.html |url-status=dead }} who also provided medical treatment to the inhabitants.{{cite web |first=L |last=Klemen |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/medical.html |title=Medical Patrol on Manus Island, 1941 |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942 |access-date=30 March 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412132358/http://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/medical.html |url-status=live }} Manus was first bombed by the Japanese on 25 January 1942, the radio mast being the main target.
On 8 April 1942 an Imperial Japanese force consisting of the light cruiser Tatsuta, destroyer Mutsuki and a troop transport ship Mishima Maru entered Lorengau harbour and several hundred Japanese soldiers of the 8th Special Base Force invaded the island. The vastly outnumbered Australians withdrew into the jungle to fight a guerilla campaign. Later in 1942, Japan established a military base on Manus Island, using prisoners of war (notably Sikh prisoners of the 5th/11th Sikh regiment taken in the Fall of Singapore) as slave labor.{{Cite web |date=15 February 2011 |title=The story of Malayan Prisoners ~ The rescue of 462 Sikh prisoners from the Japanese |url=http://www.sikhnet.com/news/story-malayan-prisoners-rescue-462-sikh-prisoners-japanese |access-date=1 June 2023 |website=SikhNet |language=en |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601125633/https://www.sikhnet.com/news/story-malayan-prisoners-rescue-462-sikh-prisoners-japanese |url-status=live }}
The island was attacked by United States forces in the Admiralty Islands campaign of February – March 1944.{{cite video |year=1944 |title=Video: Americans Win New Airbases In South Pacific Etc. (1944) |url=https://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.39003 |publisher=Universal Newsreel |access-date=21 February 2012}} An Allied naval base was established at Seeadler Harbor, Manus Naval Base, on the island and it later supported the British Pacific Fleet. The ammunition ship {{USS|Mount Hood|AE-11|6}} exploded in Seeadler Harbor on 10 November 1944 with a heavy loss of life of US Navy personnel.
In 1950–51 the Australian government conducted the last trials against Japanese war criminals on the island.Piccigallo, Philip; The Japanese on Trial; Austin 1979; {{ISBN|0-292-78033-8}}, ch.: "Australia". One case heard was that of Takuma Nishimura, who faced an Australian military court. He had already been tried by a British military court in relation to the Sook Ching massacre in Singapore and sentenced to life imprisonment. While on a stopover in Hong Kong he was intercepted by Australian military police. Evidence was presented stating that Nishimura had ordered the shootings of wounded Australian and Indian soldiers at Parit Sulong and the disposal of bodies to cover up the killings. In this trial he was found guilty and was hanged on 11 June 1951.
American anthropologist Margaret Mead lived on Manus Island before and after the war, and gave detailed accounts in Growing up in New Guinea and New Lives for Old.
Detention centre
{{main|Manus Regional Processing Centre}}
In addition to its resident population, asylum seekers have been located on Los Negros between 2001 and 2004 and since 2012.Matt Siegel: [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/world/asia/australia-adopts-tough-measures-to-curb-asylum-seekers.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 "Australia Adopts Tough Measures to Curb Asylum Seekers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615165049/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/world/asia/australia-adopts-tough-measures-to-curb-asylum-seekers.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 |date=15 June 2017 }}, in The New York Times, 19 July 2013[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/opinion/sunday/australia-refugee-prisons-manus-island.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region Refuge prisons in Manus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211130500/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/opinion/sunday/australia-refugee-prisons-manus-island.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region |date=11 December 2016 }} Roger Cohen, The New York Times, 9 December 2016
Australia set up the Manus Regional Processing Centre on Manus Island in 2001 as part of its Pacific Solution immigration policy. In August 2012, the Australian Government controversially{{cite web |url=http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/united-nations-rejects-australias-offshore-processing-plans/1005572 |title=United Nations rejects Australia's off-shore processing plans - Asia Pacific |work=radioaustralia.net.au |access-date=4 January 2013 |archive-date=5 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105070330/http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/united-nations-rejects-australias-offshore-processing-plans/1005572 |url-status=live }} announced it would resume offshore processing; in November 2012 the relocation of asylum-seekers to Manus Island resumed.{{cite web |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/first-asylum-seekers-sent-to-manus-island/story-fn9hm1gu-1226521095085 |title=Subscribe - theaustralian |website=www.theaustralian.com.au |access-date=4 January 2013 |archive-date=3 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103145846/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/first-asylum-seekers-sent-to-manus-island/story-fn9hm1gu-1226521095085 |url-status=live }}
On 26 April 2016, the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ruled that the detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island was illegal,{{cite news |title=Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court rules detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island is illegal |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-26/png-rules-detention-on-manus-island-illegal/7360078 |access-date=26 April 2016 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |archive-date=12 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912100345/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-26/png-court-rules-asylum-seeker-detention-manus-island-illegal/7360078 |url-status=live }} and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announced that the centre would be closed.{{cite news |author=Stephanie Anderson |title=Manus Island detention centre to be shut, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says |date=27 April 2016 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-27/png-pm-oneill-to-shut-manus-island-detention-centre/7364414 |access-date=10 January 2018 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020035103/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-27/png-pm-oneill-to-shut-manus-island-detention-centre/7364414 |url-status=live }} After a stand-off involving PNG military and police, all remaining men were removed to new accommodation at the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre, Hillside Haus and West Lorengau Haus{{cite news |last1=Fox |first1=Liam |last2=Yaxley |first2=Louise |title=PNG army prepares to enter Manus Island centre, 600 men still inside |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-01/manus-island-army-to-remove-600-men-from-closed-centre/9106700 |access-date=1 November 2017 |publisher=ABC News |date=1 November 2017 |archive-date=1 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101201240/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-01/manus-island-army-to-remove-600-men-from-closed-centre/9106700 |url-status=live }} by 23 November 2017.{{cite news |last1=Baxendale |first1=Rachel |title=Manus Island: last of asylum seekers removed from detention centre |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/pm-blames-kevin-rudd-for-manus-asylum-seeker-standoff/news-story/50c63065e489390b6f38bec8a8588294 |access-date=30 November 2017 |work=theaustralian.com.au |publisher=News Limited}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/01/power-shut-off-to-final-manus-compounds-as-600-men-refuse-to-leave |title=Power shut off to final Manus compounds as 600 men refuse to leave |first1=Helen |last1=Davidson |first2=Calla |last2=Wahlquist |date=31 October 2017 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |via=www.theguardian.com |access-date=28 December 2017 |archive-date=30 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230170615/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/01/power-shut-off-to-final-manus-compounds-as-600-men-refuse-to-leave |url-status=live }}
In late 2019, the remaining asylum seekers were moved to Port Moresby, and upon request by the PNG government, the Australian Government terminated the contracts of the service providers for the detention centre and other facilities as of 30 November 2019.{{cite web |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/48ea734a-e5f8-4bc6-813e-1f22b32a238a/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2019_10_21_7290.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/48ea734a-e5f8-4bc6-813e-1f22b32a238a/0000%22 |page=50 |title=Estimates |author=Australian Government. Senate. Legal And Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee |date=21 October 2019 |quote=Proof Committee Hansard |access-date=21 November 2019 |archive-date=18 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318081438/https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/48ea734a-e5f8-4bc6-813e-1f22b32a238a/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2019_10_21_7290.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/48ea734a-e5f8-4bc6-813e-1f22b32a238a/0000%22 |url-status=live }}
Naval bases
File:USCGC Oliver Henry (WPC 1140) crew arrives in Manus, Papua New Guinea, on Aug. 14, 2022.jpg
On 20 September 2018, The Australian reported that Australia and Papua New Guinea were discussing providing port facilities to the Royal Australian Navy and US Navy on Manus Island. Australia and the United States would help expand Lombrum Naval Base, so there would be facilities for Australian naval vessels there.{{Cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-17/us-to-partner-with-australia-and-png-on-manus-island-naval-base/10507658 |title=US to partner with Australia and PNG on Manus Island naval base |last=Dziedzic |first=Stephen |date=17 November 2018 |website=ABC News |language=en-AU |access-date=15 June 2019 |archive-date=16 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616134950/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-17/us-to-partner-with-australia-and-png-on-manus-island-naval-base/10507658 |url-status=live }} The newspaper reported that Australia was countering interest China had placed in expanding Papua New Guinea's port facilities at Wewak, Kikori, Vanimo and Manus Island. Manus Island is the most important of these four ports, as it is a deep-water port near important shipping lanes. The RAN operated a naval base on Manus Island from the 1950s until transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in 1974.{{cite book |editor=Moore, John |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1977–78 |edition=80th |year=1977 |series=Jane's Fighting Ships |publisher=Jane's Yearbooks |location=London |isbn=0531032779 |oclc=18207174 |page=20}}
Interstellar meteor
In April 2022, the 2014 meteor called CNEOS 2014-01-08 was confirmed to have been the first known object from beyond the Solar System to have struck Earth. Some debris had reached the surface off the coast of Manus Island and may be recoverable.{{cite news |last1=Siraj |first1=Amir |title=Spy Satellites Confirmed Our Discovery of the First Meteor from beyond the Solar System |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spy-satellites-confirmed-our-discovery-of-the-first-meteor-from-beyond-the-solar-system/ |access-date=15 April 2022 |work=Scientific American |date=12 April 2022 |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705210314/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spy-satellites-confirmed-our-discovery-of-the-first-meteor-from-beyond-the-solar-system/ |url-status=live }}
See also
Notes
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite news |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/move-to-head-off-china-with-australian-base-in-png/news-story/fa4d3f407ffa73dd8240071e03ba7828 |title=Move to head off China with Australian base in PNG |work=The Australian |date=20 September 2018 |access-date=20 September 2018 |quote=Australian officials have expressed concerns over Chinese interest in the redevelopment of four PNG ports, at Wewak, Kikori, Vanimo and Manus Island, fearing the Asian superpower is working towards gaining a military foothold in the region. |archive-date=3 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703044117/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/move-to-head-off-china-with-australian-base-in-png/news-story/fa4d3f407ffa73dd8240071e03ba7828 |url-status=live }}
}}
References
- {{cite web |first=Klemen |last=L |date=2000 |title=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20190223201350/http://www.manusisland.com/ ManusIsland.com]
{{Islands of Papua New Guinea|state=collapsed}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Islands of Papua New Guinea