By Colin Packham
SYDNEY, May 12 (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea has allowed nearly 900 asylum seekers held on a northern island on behalf of Australia to leave the detention centre during the day, a lawyer said on Thursday.
Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court last month ruled detention of refugees on the country's Manus Island was illegal, forcing the government of the tiny Pacific Island nation to announce it would close the camp. New Guinea has since allowed the 898 men held on Manus Island to leave the camp during the day, Ben Lomai, a lawyer acting for many of the detainees, told Reuters. They sign up for one of three buses to a nearby town and return to the camp in the evening.
But their long-term fate remains uncertain, with Papua New Guinea and Australia arguing that each other is responsible for resettling them.
A decision could take months, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Monday. That timetable could put the politically sensitive decision beyond a federal election on July 2, although Australia's tough immigration policy is expected to be a feature of one of the longest poll campaigns in the country's history.
Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps on Manus or on Nauru. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.
A Bangladeshi refugee died of heart failure on Nauru on Wednesday, the second death in as many weeks on the island where detainees have been hurting themselves in protest.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Australia's asylum seeker detention centres
http://tmsnrt.rs/1pNmtks
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Editing by Nick Macfie)