Eleven refugees in Port Moresby for medical treatment are being returned to Manus Island.

Detained in Papua New Guinea by Australia, the men were escorted unbound from Granville Motel yesterday (Tuesday) by the PNG immigration authority.

The authority had planned to take 17 men but some of them were no longer there, a refugee in the motel said.

Others on the list were still receiving medical treatment and were left behind, he said.

About 70 refugees remain in the motel where about 20 more from Manus are rumoured to be arriving on Tuesday.

In February, about three dozen refugees in Port Moresby were forcibly sent back to the island.

Last week, the authority warned refugees they could volunteer to go back to Manus with dignity or be compelled to return.