Mehrdad is one of 104 male refugees and asylum seekers still in PNG, of more than 1,300 sent by Australia to Manus in 2013 and 2014 for off-shore processing. The Department of Home Affairs says it’s not responsible for them.
“I don’t want to go to Australia, they want to mark you all the time as ‘refugee’, I don’t want to be a refugee, I want to be free, ” Mehrdad said.