http://www.theage.com.au/national/papuan-refugees-want-to-go-back-20081127-6k2q.html?page=-1
Claims refugees want to return to Papua disputed
TWO refugees who were among 43 Papuans caught in a diplomatic row when they were granted asylum in Australia in 2006 now want to go home.
Yunus Wanggai is believed to be negotiating with Indonesian authorities in Canberra for him and his daughter to be reunited with his wife Siti Pandera Wanggai, who has disappeared from Vanuatu after awaiting permission to come to Australia.
But Papuan activists fear that Jakarta may have put pressure on Mr Wanggai to return to the Indonesian province for "propaganda purposes" to discredit Australia's protection visa regime and quash concerns about the persecution of pro-independence groups in West Papua.
It is understood Mr Wanggai has not been in contact with his lawyer for two weeks, and his decision to return is at odds with recent moves to become a permanent resident of Australia.
A spokeswoman for the Australian Federal Police said they had interviewed Mr Wanggai and his daughter Anike in Canberra on Monday and "had no concerns about their welfare".
"We are not telling anyone where they are," she said. But the AFP denied it was helping Indonesian authorities encourage the two to return to Papua.
Mr Wanggai and Anike, 7, were among 43 asylum seekers who arrived at Cape York in January 2006, and were found to have well-founded fears of persecution. However, a decision to issue the Papuans with protection visas provoked a furious response from Indonesia, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recalling his ambassador in protest.
Four months later, Mrs Wanggai, who stayed in West Papua, was at the centre of a media storm when she claimed she was coerced by an Indonesian intelligence officer into making a false appeal for the return of her daughter.
She escaped to Papua New Guinea and then Vanuatu, and had applied to be reunited with her family in Australia through refugee agency UNHCR. But it is believed she disappeared from Vanuatu in October after becoming frustrated by delays.
In a signed statement dated yesterday and obtained by The Age, Mrs Wanggai said Australia's failure to allow her to become a refugee and join her husband in Melbourne had prompted her decision. She also said she wanted to return to Papua's capital, Jayapura, to care for her ailing older daughter.
But a leading figure in the Melbourne-based West Papuan independence movement, Nick Chesterfield said he had doubts about the authenticity of the letter, and whether it was obtained under duress. He said he had spoken to Mr Wanggai and Anike the night before they "disappeared" on November 15. "We are concerned they have been coerced," he said.
A spokesman for Indonesia's embassy in Canberra, Dino Kusnadi, said he was unable to comment at this stage.
Mr Wanggai's lawyer, David Manne, said he was unable to comment on confidential client matters, but admitted he had serious concerns.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/papuan-refugees-want-to-go-back-20081127-6k2q.html?page=-1
No comments:
Post a Comment