The Sydney Morning Herald Reports on Yunus and Anike

Claims refugees want to return to Papua disputed

this article is taken from the SMH

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/claims-refugees-want-to-return-to-papua-disputed/2008/11/27/1227491736659.html

Jewel Topsfield and Tom Allard
November 28, 2008

TWO refugees who were among 43 Papuans who ignited an international diplomatic row when they were granted asylum in 2006 are seeking to return to Indonesia.

Yunus Wanggai is believed to be negotiating with Indonesian authorities in Canberra for him and his daughter to be re-united with his wife, Siti Pandera Wanggai, who has disappeared in Vanuatu.

But Papuan activists fear Indonesia may have put pressure on Mr Wanggai to return for "propaganda purposes" to discredit Australia's protection visa regime, and quash concerns about the persecution of pro-independence groups in Papua.

It is understood Mr Wanggai has not been in touch with his lawyer for two weeks, and his decision to return is at odds with recent moves to become a permanent resident in Australia.

Mr Wanggai and his daughter, Anike, now seven, were among 43 asylum seekers who arrived at Cape York in January 2006, and were found to have well-founded fears of persecution.

The decision to issue the Papuans with protection visas provoked a furious response from Indonesia; the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, recalled his ambassador in protest.

Four months later Mrs Wanggai, who stayed in Papua, was at the centre of a media storm when she said 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 the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR. However, it is believed she disappeared from Vanuatu in October after becoming frustrated by delays in the process.

The leader of the 43 Papuans, Herman Wanggai, said he had had no contact with Yunus and Anike for 10 days. "I am really concerned about their safety. My concern is particularly related to my niece, Anike," Mr Wanggai said. "I don't believe they want to go back to Indonesia … Maybe Indonesia tried to pressure him to use for propaganda to criticise the legal system in Australia."

Frances Walton, the Melbourne foster mother of four of the Papuans, said Yunus had a well-grounded fear of returning to Indonesia as the Wanggai family had a history of involvement in the independence struggle for Papua. "Many members have been jailed for 15 years for raising the Morning Star flag, a symbol of freedom from Indonesian rule," Ms Walton said.

The latest developments come two months after two other Papuan refugees, Hana Gobay and Yubel Kareni, returned to Indonesian voluntarily. The pair reportedly told Indonesian media they came to Australia for a university education and not to flee human rights abuses.

In August the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, told the Herald their return would be "good for both Australia and Indonesia".

A spokesman for Indonesia's embassy in Canberra, Dino Kusnadi, said he was unable to comment. "My guidelines say that I should respect the rights of Yunus Wanggai to not engage in the media," he said.

Mr Wanggai's lawyer, David Manne, had no comment.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/claims-refugees-want-to-return-to-papua-disputed/2008/11/27/1227491736659.html