Manus Island staff told to leave after landowners protest

Case management and resettlement staff on Manus Island have been told to leave "for their own safety" by angry landowners.

Police on the island say 10 staff from JDA Wokman – which provides services to the refugee centre – were told to leave after landowners protested at the one of the refugee accommodation centres yesterday, the ABC reports.

Police have said the protest was by landowners linked to the company Peren Investments and was around awarding of the contract for case management.

Access to the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre was blocked during the protest.

Refugees have claimed protestors stopped medical staff from entering and treating patients for several hours.

Manus Province police commander David Yapu said the block was eventually cleared.

"I have instructed our Mobile Squad to patrol and monitor the situation on ground at East Lorengau Transit Centre from time to time," he said.