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July 2007
In April 2007, an ICJ delegation met with Ms Wallaya Pura, the UNHCR representative in Port Moresby. Ms Pura has been working actively with the PNG Government to seek the withdrawal of their 1986 reservations to the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.She is hopeful that 5 of the 7 reservations will be withdrawn soon (though perhaps not before the election). These relate to expulsion, education, naturalisation, health and free movement.The only two that cannot be withdrawn relate to housing and employment, as the Government cannot provide these services to all Papua New Guinean citizens.
PNG acceded to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees on 17 July 1986.
In accordance with article 42 (1) it made reservations in relation to implementation of the following articles:
Art. 17 (1) –Most favourable treatment accorded to foreigners relating to wage-earning employment.
Art 21 –Favourable treatment in the provision of public housing,
Art. 22 (1) – Same treatment as nationals in the provision of elementary education, Art 26 –Freedom of movement within the territory of Papua New Guinea,
Art 31 – Non-imposition of penalties for illegal entry or presence,
Art 32 - Prohibition against expulsion of refugees, and
Art 34 – Favourable treatment in citizenship processing including reduction of relevant fees.
How many West Papuan Refugees remain in PNG today?
There remain about 2,600 refugees in the Kiunga region, East Awin. Approximately 5,000 refugees are living along the border of PNG however the numbers are hard to estimate as they seem to move in and out of PNG and some may actually be PNG citizens. The UNHCR has limited access to these refugees due to the limited integration policy.There are still some refugees at Vanimo, about 1000, and they are living within PNG communities. 1,400 refugees who were in Vanimo were transferred to the East Awin camp. Since 2000, 10,048 people have moved to East Awin. The UNHCR is preparing facilities in East Awin, at the government’s request, that are also accessible to PNG citizens in the area. There are also about 2,500 refugees in urban environments. At ‘Eight Mile’ in Port Moresby those refugees who had not renewed their Permissive Residence Permits (PRPs) were given eviction notices. There appears to be less sympathy for their position as refugees in urban environments have the assistance of PNG locals and they are permitted to work and go to school. The Government has, however, been lenient enough not to arrest them.
Nationalisation and Statelessness
All West Papuan refugees must spend 6 months in the East Awin camp. After that they are free to move around and are granted a Permissive Residence Permit. After 8 years they may apply for PNG citizenship so long as their PRP has been renewed every three years. However it costs 11,000 Kina ($US3000) to renew a PRP, an impossible sum for the refugees to pay. Children of refugees born in PNG are given birth certificates and the right to reside but not citizenship, therefore they are effectively stateless. There is also derivative status for their children.
Under the PNG Migration Act 1978 the conditions which apply to Permissive Residency require the holders to abide by the law, to refrain from political activity that might affect the good relationships of the Government with Indonesia, not to reside in the border areas, not to engage in or support OPM activities, not to engage in political activity in PNG and to notify any change of address. Permissive Residents have the right of free movement, except in the border areas, to engage in business, employment, enrolment in schools, access to health services, to the courts, freedom of worship, of marriage. They are free to return to Indonesia at their own expense. No procedures have been clearly established for renewal or consequent applications for citizenship.
Why are there West Papuan Refugees in PNG?
The Indonesia State was formed in 1949, but did not include West Papua as the former Dutch colonizers intended to prepare the territory for independence. After violent clashes between Indonesian forces and the Dutch, the New York agreement allowed Indonesia, to take over administration of the territory in 1963. Under the agreement there was to be an “Act of Free Choice“ by the West Papuan people. This was conducted under dubious circumstances, in which ‘representatives’ of the West Papuan people expressed their desire to be integrated with Indonesia, rather than become independent. The validity of this process has long been contested by West Papuans.
Since 1969, the West Papuan population has been subjected to human rights abuses at the hands of the Indonesian military and security forces. Traditional lands have been occupied by transmigrants, natural resources exploited and environment degraded. Raising the West Papua flag can result in heavy prison sentences. There has been violent resistance at times. West Papuan refugees have fled, following regular military crackdowns in their territory, to neighboring PNG where the people share similar languages, cultures and traditions.
Over 10,000 refugees have fled to camps in Kiunga, Vanimo, Daru and East Awin, near the West Papuan/PNG border due to oppression of civilians and consistent clashes between the Indonesian military and member of the Free Papua Movement (OPM). In 1999, the Habibie Indonesian government planned to divide West Papua into three new provinces; many believing this was to divide the independence movement. President Wahid did allow the territory to be called ‘West Papua’ however (instead of ‘Irian Jaya’) and accepted the raising of the Morning Star Flag. This freedom was brief however as the military crackdown on the raising of the flag, and the Indonesia Cabinet reversed Wahid’s decree. Repression of independence has continued, pro-independence activists killed, and refugees continue to flee the violence.
What is the situation in PNG?
The first refugees arrived in 1968 and some were granted permissive residency. In the 1970s, some of the refugees included OPM members and those convicted of crimes under PNG law were returned to West Papua. A large-scale influx occurred in 1984 and international attention was drawn to the poor standards in the ‘temporary’ border camps. The UNHCR was reluctantly allowed to establish a presence in Port Moresby to assist with the West Papuan's daily needs. PNG was concerned about illegal entry of West Papuans and the limited financial resources available to give similar standards of social assistance to the refugees as to PNG citizens.
PNG stopped its program of forced repatriation in the latter half of the 1980s and 1990s, however, in 2003 the PNG government announced that 96 families in Vanimo that were assessed as illegal border crossers would be returned to Indonesia in accordance with the Basic Agreement on Border Arrangements between PNG and Indonesia. The return was to be on a ‘voluntary’ basis. The UNHCR and the Catholic Church expressed their concerns and the PNG government decided to postpone the repatriations and allow the West Papuans to remain in transmitter camps in March 2003.
The Australia Section of the ICJ (which had earlier conducted a mission to PNG border camps and Vanimo) wrote to the Prime Minster of PNG, the Hon. Sir Michael Somare urging the PNG government to allow the West Papuan border crosses to remain in PNG and not returned to Indonesia and to treat all those assessed by the UNHCR as genuine refugees (the UNHCR considered that approximately 75% of all the 300 recent West Papuan arrivals in Vanimo should be accorded refugee status in 2001) and grant them permanent residency status. Forced repatriation has been a constant threat since 1984 and the UNHCR has been granted a protective role in monitoring the safety of those returned to Indonesia. After return, some West Papuans have been arrested, tortured or killed. In Prime Minister Somare’s response to the ICJ’s letter in April 2003, he stated that the possibility of an Appeal Panel from the decisions of the Foreign Minster were being looked into and that the government had never been made aware of evidence showing that repatriated border crossers had been killed by the Indonesian Government.
How has the ICJ been involved?
Indonesia does not permit independent human rights bodies to visit West Papua, however the Australian Section of the ICJ has undertaken 3 missions to PNG over the last 20 years to witness the plight of the West Papuan refugees first hand. The mission statement for the latest mission in 2003 was ‘to investigate and report on the situation of the West Papuan refugees including those persons who crossed in the 1980s as well as persons arriving in recent years.’
[See 2003 report] |
