Tensions remain high on Manus Island where asylum seekers insist they will continue protests.
Tensions remain high at a detention camp on Manus Island where asylum seekers insist they will continue protests and hunger strikes, even after dozens were forcibly removed following a three-day stand-off.
Papua New Guinea police say more than 40 asylum seekers were detained at a prison and a handful of others taken to police cells after security personnel smashed through barricades erected at the entrance to a cell block at the detention centre.
However, refugee advocates say at least 58 asylum seekers were detained and have claimed some were mistreated.
'There were no negotiations between PNG officials or anybody else before the security was moved in,' Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said.
He said some asylum seekers are refusing to go to the medical centre for attention. They claim the department of immigration is putting some into isolation rather than returning them to their compounds.
It's also claimed that about 700 detainees have vowed to continue their hunger strikes.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who on Tuesday praised the PNG Government and staff for a measured approach to resolving ongoing unrest, concedes tension at the detention centre remain high.
'There remains some underlying tension at the Centre, including instances of food and fluid refusal but this is being closely monitored,' he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The asylum seekers have been protesting against a planned transfer of some detainees to temporary housing near the Papua New Guinean town of Lorengau as part of a resettlement scheme.