PNG offers homes to Refugees

Rimbink Pato. Image courtesy
 of Wikimedia Commons

The Papua New Guinea Government has completed more than 97 per cent cases of refugee status determination (RSD) assessments in the Manus Detention Centre and offered settlements in Papua New Guinea to them, a cabinet minister said.

Minister of Foreign affairs and Immigration Rimbink Pato said a total of 361 refugees living at the centre were offered settlements.

He added that the PNG Immigration Citizenship Services Authority (ICSA) is assessing 642 claims of asylum status.

Pato clarified that the Regional Resettlement Agreement (RRA) was signed in 2012 by the governments of PNG and Australia to process asylum seekers at Manus Island and to offer settlements to those who were found to be refugees and they were funded by the Australian government.

“The RRA is an initiative aimed at stopping illegal people smuggling into our region while providing genuine humanitarian protection to those who need it,” Pato said.

“It is consistent with the conclusions of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime,” Pato said.

“In the years between the closing of the Manus Regional Processing Centre in 2006 and the commencement of RRA in 2013, more than 1000 asylum seekers tragically lost their lives at sea.

“Since the commencement of RRA, these deaths at sea have stopped and that is one fundamental objective we want to achieve.”

 Pato stressed that all the refugees would be assisted to be self-reliant as quickly as possible, depending on their needs and this may include language and culture orientation training and temporary accommodation.

He noted that refugees were free to apply for visas and travel to any country that would accept them and for those who were assessed and found not to be not refugees, would leave PNG in accordance with the Migration Act.

“They may choose to depart voluntarily and may be assisted to re-establish themselves in their home country or another country where they have a right of residence.”

 Pato said PNG was doing this because it had agreed to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and its related 1967 Protocol.

“We have an international obligation to provide humanitarian protection to refugees.”

Meanwhile, Pato said the Government was supporting the West Papuan refugees by granting citizenship and enabling them to attain the same rights as Papua New Guineans.

“The Citizenship Advisory Committee will soon meet and deliberate on more than 1000 West Papuan refugees who have been registered in East Awin, Kiunga, Western.

The National / PNG Today