Click here to return
to the Submission Index
Submission to the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention from
Marist Refugee Office
"There is no greater sorrow on earth than the loss of one's native land"
Euripides 431BC
"Like sands shifted by restless winds, refugees spill today across the globe. They constitute a Fourth World, one whose inhabitants have no representation and over which they have no control."
William Shawcross "The Quality of Mercy"
"The fact that the Church carries our extensive relief efforts on behalf of refugees, especially in recent years, should not be a source of surprise to anyone. Indeed this is an integral part of the Church's mission in the world."
Pope John Paul II - Lenten message 1990
Preamble
Australia's so-called Pacific Solution is not "pacific" in the sense of "peaceful" nor is it a just or long-term solution in response to the arrival of asylum seekers into the northern waters of Australia.
The Australian government has, opportunistically and in keeping with its growing reputation in the South Pacific as a "bully boy", made use of the parlous situation in Nauru and its peoples and the corruption, complex situation and needs of PNG to reduce the "burden" of this so-called "problem". It has done this at great cost to its reputation as a country of compassion and a fair go. It has flaunted the UN Convention on Refugees, one to which it is a signatory. It is also spending enormous amounts of money for relatively few people who could easily be accommodated here in Australia and who could, as so many others who came here in the past have, add so much to our vitality and future. The real financial burden to the taxpayer of Australia may never be known.
Sadly it seems there is still a majority - just how big is uncertain - of Australians who support mandatory detention of asylum seekers arriving here without documentation. They appear to be unconcerned about the squalid financial inducements offered to the Republic of Nauru and the Government of PNG. Also, they seem unconcerned about the implications for all Australian citizens, not just asylum seekers, of the precipitous rush to introduce laws retroactively, which are both harsh and punitive in regard to the asylum seekers, and to put in place exclusion zones. The recent outburst by Phillip Ruddock against the judiciary suggests that the citizens of Australia should be concerned. One letter to the editor stated:
"The rule of law requires that government should be in accordance with fixed rules which are intelligible, stable, applied equally and transparently by unbiased, disinterested decision makers, supervised by an independent judiciary.
Hastily implemented legislation that reactively overturns court decisions to prevent one class of people having access to judicial review is utterly inimical to the rule of law.
When the rule of law is thrown out the window, society is left with the type of anarchy that has been seen in the detention centre riots."
Concerned for the welfare of these detainees held in the detention camps in Nauru and Manus, especially in regard to their legal rights, their right to spiritual and pastoral ministry and their right for proper and adequate care, Caritas Australia and JRS endeavoured to gain access to the centres by way of official requests to the appropriate government agencies. All such requests were refused. Although a very detailed report was made available by John Pace, who visited Nauru on behalf of Amnesty International, it was agreed that, if possible, an unofficial visit should be made to gather further information on the conditions of the detainees and to see what, if anything, could be done to address these concerns.
In consultation with the writer of this report representing the Marist Fathers Refugee Office, Caritas Australia agreed to sponsor an unofficial attempt to visit both camps on behalf of Caritas Australia and JRS.
At the same time Caritas Australia requested that a consultation be carried out with representatives of the Catholic Church and associated agencies and NGOs in the Pacific region to determine their views in regard to the Pacific Solution.
In response to the Terms of Reference in regard to this assessment and consultation, two Draft Interim Reports were written, as it were on the move, because of the urgency to provide information and advice to Caritas as it prepared a submission to the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry on the Pacific Solution.
This report will recapitulate some of the more salient issues mentioned in those reports and include information regarding the subsequent visits to the detention camp on Manus Island and refugee camps in Vanimo and near Kiunga on the Fly River.
Also, although not specifically requested, I will include a report on the situation in the Solomon Islands. The civil strife and serious breakdown of law and order in the Solomons has resulted in major dislocation and displacement of many.
Visit to Nauru March 18 - 21
The Republic of Nauru is a small island in the Western Pacific with a population of about 7,000 who live on the narrow-green coastal perimeter occupying about one-third of the island. The rest of the island is a desolate moonscape ? a legacy of the years of phosphate mining.
Nauru has become an economic and social basket case beset with critical and perhaps intractable problems. Among these are:
- Few, if any, sustainable industries;
- High unemployment, especially youth unemployment;
- High incidence of poor health among the people ? Nauran's have the second-highest incidence of diabetes in the world;
- Failed investments on monies earned from the now depleted stocks of phosphate;
- Decaying social services and infrastructures.
AusAid described Nauru to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on 20 February 2002 in these words:
"Nauru is in an increasingly untenable economic situation which presents a real threat to the availability of basic health, education, power and water supplies for the population of Nauru. Australian development assistance to Nauru is directly targeted at these key areas."
The Australian Government, for its own questionable motives, made an offer the Nauran Government was unable or unwilling to refuse. According to the AusAid Rep. on the island,
"Australia is picking up the tab for most of the above essential services."
The contents of the agreement between the governments of Australia and Nauru in regard to the setting up of the detention camp on the island remain secret. What is clear is the difficulty in gaining access, firstly to the island and then to the camp once on the island. I was given a transit visa, but required a guarantee of accommodation before landing.
Accessing the camp is not as daunting as it is here in the detention camps of Australia. There is only a single perimeter fence and a boom gate guards the entrance. No searches are made, but the guard at the entrance will challenge all those attempting to enter. Permission to visit can be granted only by the IOM Head of Mission, Cy Winter, or his deputy, Luiz Vieria. (As I write this report, an Australian woman is attempting to gain access to the camp by responding to an invitation from one of the detainees to visit him. Her success or otherwise should be known in a few days.)
Because I had received from an NGO in the States called Counterpart International, who in turn had received a direct request from IOM Geneva for a medical back-up team for the Pacific detention camps, I was given permission by Cy Winter to enter both camps to look at the medical facilities and meet with the current medical team caring for the needs of the detainees. One of the interpreters, an Afghan-Australian, who came to Australia in 1984 at the time of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, was appointed by Cy Winter to be my guide and interpreter.
I spent about 2½ hours in, what is known as, the "Top Side Camp", which at the time of my visit had a population of about 800 Afghans. Two weeks prior to my visit the two camps on the island were reorganised according to nationality. The majority, being Afghans, went to the larger camp, the "Top Side Camp", and the others, made up of Iraqis, Iranians and Sri Lankans, in total about 350, were housed in what is known as the "State House Camp". This move was, in hindsight, a preparation for the announcement of the determination of their cases due out two weeks after I had been there. We now know that of the 800 Afghans, only seven were deemed to be refugees according to the UN Convention. More of that later.
I spent most of my time talking with groups and individuals, either in their dongas or as we walked around looking at the camp facilities. Most of the time I did not need the services of my interpreter because of the fluency in English of many of the detainees. (There is an English conversation program as part of the education program in the camp and 22 of the English teachers are detainees).
But 2½ hours in the Top Side Camp and about an hour in the State House Camp was not really sufficient time to do an in-depth assessment. However, from my past experience of working with refugees, I am able to offer credible interpretations of what I witnessed and the stories I heard.
Using the issues to be explored as listed in the Terms of Reference, I make the following comments:
1. Level and quality of legal and other support services that currently exist for detainees
There was no evidence that any of the detainees had, at any time, been given access to independent legal advice before or after the initial interview, which is all that they had received up until the time of my visit. This was confirmed by the detainees themselves.
(Before leaving for Nauru, an Australian lawyer prepared a comprehensive document outlining the basic legal rights of asylum seekers and refugees in regard to Australian law and also in regard to the UN Convention on Refugees. I was able to pass a copy of this document to one of the leaders of the camp, together with a form that could be filled in by any detainee requesting legal advice from Jeremy Moore and Associates ? the solicitors who have been working in the Woomera Detention Camp. Jeremy's office is based in Adelaide. Since returning to Australia I have received one such document duly signed and dated, which I have passed on to Jeremy for action.)
2. Identification of the needs of detainees
When the detainees first arrived in Nauru, the living conditions were appalling. As recent as two months before my visit, raw sewerage lay in pools in parts of the camp. However, to the credit of IOM, significant improvements in the living conditions had been made, including the installation of two state-of-the-art sewerage systems, new housing accommodation for the people in Top Side Camp and demountables for the education programs built. Nevertheless the camp is a camp, a barren, dusty compound overlooking an even more desolate and barren landscape, the so-called pinnacles left behind after the extraction of super phosphate.
Medical care is certainly adequate, with a medical team of five doctors and seven nurses. There are two clinics in the Top Side Camp, one for ordinary medical needs and the other for women's needs. Serious cases are taken to the local hospital and, when necessary, to Australia for treatment.
Both camps boast excellent kitchen facilities that provide top-class meals three times a day. Key staff are mostly from Australia with support staff recruited from among the detainees. If anything, I had a sense that over provision of food may have been an issue.
Clothing appears to be adequate to the extent that traditional clothing is worn by both men and women. However, because of the critical shortage of water, washing these clothes is a major daily task. At the time of my visit the flush toilets were without water, a cause of serious concern to the detainees. (Obviously the planning of the camp, especially the toilets, was done by Australians without consultation. So instead of installing the more practicable, easily cleanable and sturdy squat toilets, the pedestal type were installed. In one block they had placed wooden planks on top of the toilets with appropriate cutouts so that the pedestals could be used in squat style!)
3. Identification of other church agencies & NGOs could assist
(i) In Nauru
All attempts to make contact with an NGO representative nominated by another NGO Rep from Nauru proved futile. There was no evidence that any NGO in Nauru is, in any way, engaged directly with the detainees.
With regard to the church, the resident parish priest, an elderly expatriate German with experience in PNG and who is not well, has permission to visit the camps and provides Mass for the few Christians there. How frequently I am not sure. The three Sisters, all of whom are OLSH from Kiribati, help him in this ministry, but again it is very minimal and there is no planned program. In both camps temporary Mosques have been erected and presumable leaders from among the Muslim community are chosen to lead them in prayer.
(ii) Outside Nauru
Given the isolation of Nauru and the difficulty of access, long-term spiritual counselling and pastoral ministries in the camps would be difficult to sustain. Identifying what kind of ministry and counselling is needed would call for a small team to spend time in the camps making the assessment.
4. The legal situation for detainees under Nauru
There is a strong suggestion that in accepting these detainees in Nauru the government of Nauru has breached its own Constitution and Bill of Rights. This needs to be tested in a court of law either in Nauru or internationally. I have my doubts as to whether any local lawyer will take up their case.
5. Perceptions of the Impact of the Detainees on Nauru and its Peoples
There is very little social interaction between the detainees and the people of Nauru and the size of the camps do not radically impact on the living space of the people, so social impact is minimal, at least for the moment. Each afternoon the Deputy Head of Mission takes about 30 detainees down to the local enclosed harbour for swimming. Many of the locals gather, mostly to look, but some do join them in the water. Volley ball games have been arranged between the detainees and the Nauruans, most of which are won by the visitors.
With the installation of the state-of-the-art sewerage systems, the environmental damage is also minimised. However, water remains the critical problem for all who live on the island. There is the suggestion that Australia will install a new desalination plant and make it large enough, not just for the detainees, but for the population of Nauru.
Economically the people of Nauru stand to benefit. Already the Australian Government, through AusAid, is paying for most of the public services such as power and water. It would seem some Nauruans are personally benefiting from the largess of the Australian Government per kind favour of the Australian taxpayer.
There appears to be some resentment by the locals for the good treatment of the detainees as they see it. On balance, my sense is that the people of Nauru, because of the many spin-offs coming from the presence of the detainees on their small island, they are more than happy for them to stay, even though officially the government has requested Australia to remove them by the end of May. Given their economic desperation this deadline is not likely to be insisted on.
Of great importance is the psychological wellbeing of the detainees. The uncertainty about their future, especially in light of the recent government financial inducements to the Afghans to return home and the unwillingness of many to do so, will place great stress on the detainees, irrespective of whatever improvements are made to their living conditions.
The detainees in Nauru are well aware of what has taken place in Woomera, Port Headland and Curtin by way of demonstrations, attempted and successful suicides and self-mutilation. Desperate people made even more desperate by factors beyond their control will take desperate action. One only has to speculate what could happen with 400 very resourceful male Afghans breaking out of the low-security camp on the island of Nauru.
Visit to Manus Island, PNG April 23-26
Before visiting Manus and as part of the Pacific Consultation, I visited Kavieng where I met with Bishop Ambrose, the author of the very strongly worded statement entitled "Gift from Australia" in which he condemns Australia's so-called Pacific Solution. He points out that PNG has more than enough of its own problems, including the West Papuan Refugees along the border. It is interesting to note that during the time of my visit to PNG, over 100 children died of measles mainly because of the lack of vaccines. Inadequate medical supplies throughout the country because of lack of funds is just one of the major problems facing PNG.
The Bishop has been criticised by some of the local people because of his strong stand. They feel that the financial benefits for the local people, given the fact that Manus is one of the poorest provinces in PNG, justify the co-operation of the PNG Government with the Australian Government in its Pacific Solution.
The detention camp is located in the Naval Base at Lombrum on the Island of Manus. The base is in the parish of Papitalai of which Fr Justin Aminio is parish priest. Two rather lengthy discussions with Fr Justin suggest that he, like his Bishop, is opposed to the forced detention of people that have committed no crime. He has spoken out strongly against the continuation of this policy. He, like his Bishop, has been criticised and indeed warned. He was also blamed for taking Evan Williams, from the television program Foreign Correspondent, onto the base and was, at the time of my visit, expecting a letter forbidding him henceforth access to the base where he says Mass for the Naval Personnel who are Catholics. He told me he would vigorously challenge this exclusion. In fact, it was Fr Morris from the parish of Lorengau who accompanied Evan onto the base.
No-one, not even the chaplain to the base, is allowed to go inside the detention camp, which is set up like an isolation camp on the base itself.
I attempted to go to the base by car along the only road that leads to it. However, I was stopped and turned back at the roadblock, which is about a kilometre short of the base and manned by the PNG Defence Force. This was set up after the visit by Evan Williams and the screening of his critical television program on Foreign Correspondent. The only other access to the base, which occupies a peninsula, is by sea.
I did manage to speak to the IOM Head of Mission on two occasions. However, my offer of medical assistance that had been so successful in Nauru failed in Manus. A third attempt to make an appointment to meet him was rebuffed through his secretary on the score that he was too busy.
Through the conversations I had with [names deleted], I learned that in return for their co-operation, the PNG Government is receiving a full upgrading of The Base. The hospital, officers' mess, kitchen facility and houses for Naval Personnel families have all been upgraded and improved. The hospital is open to not only naval personnel, but to the local people, which is significant given the fact that the hospital in the capital, Lorengau, which is 45 minutes by car, is without water. A recent enquiry came to the conclusion that the hospital should be closed until such time as the water becomes available.
The people living in the area of the base and on the base are more than happy with their windfall. It is providing employment for many as guards, cooks, cleaners and office workers. They are jealously guarding their bonanza.
Concern has been expressed by some politicians, and indeed a well-known lawyer is preparing a case against the government, for like Nauru, it seems that this detention of people who have committed no crime is against the nations Bill of Rights. Also it is possibly against the criminal code, which states that anyone who is arrested for an alleged crime cannot be held for more than six months unless the person is charged. These detainees have been there more than seven months now.
Although I am uncertain, given the isolation of the camp and the cavalier manner in which the PNG Defence Force and the guards at the camp reject any legitimate request for access, I doubt if any lawyers have been able to give legal advice to the relatively small number being held in Manus Detention Camp.
As mentioned earlier, events have somewhat overtaken this report in that a significant number of those on Manus have been determined to be genuine refugees. However, no decision has been taken as to which country will receive them, and Australia has said it will not take all of them, if any.
The denial of access to the people in the camp, especially for pastoral care by church representatives, is indeed a denial of a basic human right, one that not even the Japanese on the Thai/Burma Railway during World War II denied the chaplains. They were able to minister to the POWs in spite of the brutality that they experienced. What does this say about the Australian and PNG governments, as they collude in a solution that is bereft of humanity, compassion and fundamental human rights.
Recommendations
1. The tyranny of distance and the isolation of the two detention camps that make up Australia's Pacific Solution, place a heavy burden and a big obstacle to any NGO or legal agency concerned for the wellbeing of the people held in these camps. However, these difficulties should not prevent ongoing and relentless efforts through collaboration with interested NGOs, lobbying and public awareness programs to keep before the minds of the Australian people our government's policies and its effects on the lives of innocent people.
2. Caritas Australia might consider sponsoring a gathering of all interested NGOs and other community groups who are working directly or indirectly for the detainees, to work out strategies whereby we might, collectively and individually, work at providing legal assistance, counselling and pastoral care for the detainees.
3. Because the length of time the detainees will be held in these camps is uncertain, consideration should be given to how small teams could be sent on a rotation basis to help in some basic training to provide skills that will benefit both the detainee and the society to which they go, whether that be back home or some third country. The time wasted in our detention camps is a scandal, especially when there are so many community-based groups who would willingly volunteer their skills and time
4. According to its Constitution, IOM is prohibited from participating in involuntary return. Therefore, a close monitor needs to be put in place as the Australian Government proceeds in its publicly stated policy of offering financial inducements for Afghans to return home to what Phillip Ruddock suggests, after a 12-hour visit to Kabul, is a relatively safe homeland. This is in spite of the recent news about the ongoing fight against the Taliban, and that the IOM Sponsored Food Program for Children in Afghanistan will have to be cut back from 250,000 to 50,000 because of a lack of funds and difficulty in carrying out the program.
IOM must ensure that those returning to their country of origin do so voluntarily, not just by a statement, but must do so by each individual signing a "Declaration for Voluntary Return", which must be written in both English and in the signatory's language. One of the clauses in this statement says:
"After due consideration and entirely of my own free will I wish to return".
Already there are indications that the Australian Government may use force. IOM must be held to its Constitution.
5. If permission is granted to teams going to Nauru for education programs, consideration should be given to the purchase or rental of suitable accommodation.
6. In the same way that access can be gained to the detention camps in Australia through invitations from the detainees themselves, consideration should be given to personal visits by representatives of NGOs on a regular basis so as to continue to monitor the reality inside these camps, particularly in Nauru.
The Pacific Consultation
The first part of the Pacific Consultation, which included meetings with Bishop Soane Foliaki of Tonga, Archbishop Mataca, Bishop of Fiji, and Caritas Partners, is contained in my earlier reports submitted to Caritas Australia. This report will cover subsequent visits to Bishops in the Solomon Islands, PNG and Australia.
The Solomon Islands
Because of the dramatic and devastating developments that have occurred in recent years in the Solomon Islands, I will add a separate section to this report offering an update on the situation there and the impact that the crisis has had on the people of the Solomons in terms of displacement of people, the breakdown of law and order and the consequent impact on the economy.
As part of the Pacific Consultation, I visited with Archbishop Adrian Smith of the Archdiocese of Honiara and Bishop Gerry Loft, Bishop of the Auki Diocese. Understandably, both men were preoccupied with the developments in their respective dioceses.
In the case of Archbishop Adrian, he was confronted by a band of militia who were slaughtering the church cattle on his property and was threatened with an automatic rifle. A long "Our Father", and the cool head of the group's leader, probably saved his life, but not the life of the man who held the gun to his head. The young man was found dead the following day, probably from an overdose, but in a land where nothing happens by accident, everything has a cause, the Bishop's manna or karma or power has been greatly enhanced. He also went public in the local newspaper condemning the militia and other groups who were robbing people returning from selling their produce at the markets. Although he did not mention anyone by name, he received a phone call from one militia group leader demanding compensation of 10,000 Solomon Island dollars for being publicly maligned.
Gerry Loft, who lives very simply and with very few modern conveniences, has been robbed 13 times in spite of steel reinforcement rods on every window.
Both Bishops are very much aware of the Pacific Solution and would willingly support any initiative taken by the Federation at the time of its meeting in Rabaul in terms of a collective public statement condemning the policy.
Bishop of Kavieng, Bishop Ambrose Kaipseni
Bishop of Kavieng's statement of 13 March 2002, clearly articulates his opposition to the Pacific Solution.
During our meeting, he reiterated his position and showed me a letter he received from a woman in Brisbane who had read his statement and thanked him for it. She expressed her shame as an Australian for the policy of the Australian Government.
Bishop Cesare Bonivento of Vanimo and Bishop Gilles Cote both expressed their concern about the Pacific Solution and would certainly endorse any statement that came from the Bishops' Federation in regard to this matter. Bishop Cote believed that it was an essential item of the agenda for this meeting.
On my return to Australia, I contacted Archbishop Frank Carroll, mentioning my consultation with the Bishops of the Pacific. He requested a summary of the main points relating to the two camps that would help inform him and any discussion that surfaced during the meeting. I faxed him two condensed pages giving an outline for which he was grateful.
As I write this report, some days after the conclusion of the meeting in Rabaul, I have no word of any statement regarding the Pacific Solution made by the Bishops at the Federation Meeting. However, we wait in hopeful expectation.
The reality of the Solomon Islands is deeply disturbing. Without wishing to sound alarmist, the violence that has wracked the islands since 1998, continues to erupt and threatens the Townsville Peace Agreement signed in late 2000.
It may be helpful to briefly outline some of the key facts in regard to the breakdown of law and order in the Solomon Islands. The following is an extract from a report prepared by Bishop Loft.
" The people of Guadalcanal were the first to rebel after waiting for more than 20 years for their grievances to be responded to - in much the same way as in Fiji the people of Guadalcanal felt that they were losing control over their own lands and resources of the land to politicians and the people from Malaita who had come to live in Guadalcanal over the past decades.
They began to drive the Malaitan people back to their island - as many as 30,000 were forced to return. However the Malaita Eagle Force supported by the Police Force, most of whom were from Malaita, rowdily retaliated. So you have the two groups, the Malaita Eagle Force who control Honiara the capital and a small perimeter around it and the Isutambu Freedom Fighters who control the rest of Guadalcanal.
As a result of this conflict the MEF (Malaita Eagle Force) has an agenda that included:
1. 1. the overthrow of the legal government in which they were successful
2. 2. the establishment of a Malaitan power enclave in the more productive area on Guadalcanal adjacent to Honiara and in Honiara itself. In this they have been largely successful
3. 3. the control of the police and field force. In this they have been successful and still control these organizations and
4. 4. the amassing of personal wealth by the leaders. In this they have been very successful corrupting the whole compensation process and administration of government funds given by overseas bodies.
The government is ineffective and bankrupt. There is no money for physical infrastructure and payment of civil servants, teachers, nurses and police officers is irregular and often inadequate.
The return of high power weapons to the police armoury has been sporadic and ineffective. There remain approximately 500 automatic, military style weapons at large in the hands of ex-militants who are intimidating the local populace and the whole law and order situation is precarious. The deadline for the return of all weapons is 31 May. No-one really expects this to happen although the Bishops of Oceania and Australia meeting in Rabaul as I write have made a special plea for all the guns to be handed in and for normalcy to return to the Solomons. Most developmental projects remain closed.
The economy has collapsed and local rural people have virtually no means of earning any serious income. Youth are increasingly frustrated and unemployed.
People's attitudes have changed markedly as they see the corruption and "ripping off" of millions by elected officials and others in positions of trust. Many are now trying to get exorbitant amounts for any service or work done or any use of local materials.
Violence and house-breaking remain endemic in Honiara and Auki. Three Guadalcanal terrorists each with their own group remain at large and are terrorising the people in the rural areas of that island.
Roads are by and large impassable and travel to and from Honiara is dangerous and very difficult. Most travel has to be by canoe as there are no planes flying to Guadalcanal airfields. Even canoe travel can be dangerous because of shooting and the likelihood of interception.
On Malaita most roads are impassable for long periods of time and the conditions of these roads is deteriorating quickly, bridges collapsing, washouts and slides on the road frequent. On Malaita canoe travel is becoming the norm rather than the exception for areas previously connected by road. But this will become increasingly difficult for many because of the cost of gasoline for the outboard. Many will have to go back to the old paddle."
For further information in regard to the grim and disturbing situation in the Solomon Islands, see Appendix 1 attached - an article by John Roughan.
It was interesting to learn that people from the West Solomons, ethnically and linguistically linked to the people of the southern part of Bougainville, were crossing over to Bougainville and then on to PNG to the extent that it has been mentioned in parliament. The people of Bougainville are being reminded of how they were helped during their time of crisis by the people in the West Solomons and asking for equal consideration now.
West Papua Refugees
The background to the presence of West Papuans living in camps inside the border of PNG is well known to the gentle reader. However, for the sake of completeness I will mention briefly the history of these border crossers, as they are often referred to.
The so-called New York Agreement was signed by the Indonesians and the Dutch at the UN Headquarters on 15 August 1962. This led to what is now known as an utter sham, the exercise of free choice in 1968 by 1026 so-called representatives of the total population of West Papua. The then UN Secretary General, Uh Thant, reported to the General Assembly that:
"Without descent, all the enlarged councils pronounced themselves in favour of the territory remaining with Indonesia."
This was a blatant misrepresentation. Since that time the population has almost doubled by the policy of transmigration from other islands, particularly Java. Also, since the so-called Act of Free Choice, over 100,000 have died as a result of Indonesian oppression. That is the official figure. Unofficially some estimate the figure as high as 800,000. In 1984 over 10,000 West Papuans fled across the border into PNG and settled along the Fly River. In 1987 they were given the choice by the PNG Government to either return home or go to another camp to be cared for by UNHCR. Only about 3000 accepted the offer and went to the camp set up by UNHCR at East Awin. Some returned home, but most remained without status along the Fly River.
At the time of my visit to Kiunga there were still about 5000-6000 West Papuans living in 16 camps on the Fly River and on the border. There were about 2700 in what is still referred to as the "East Awin Camp", but the UNHCR withdrew from the camp in 2000 once the PNG Government had given those there permanent residency in PNG with the right to work and travel. Those living in East Awin do so on land that was provided by the Government, but which has become very depleted. West Papuans have begun to encroach on land not included in the original package, causing growing friction between them and the locals. Also, during the time when UNHCR was responsible for the refugees, a sense of dependency developed which has been transferred to the Catholic Church, also causing some friction. The newly-appointed parish priest, an Indonesian of the De Monfort Congregation, had his house broken into while I was there and lost about 500 Kina worth of goods.
Bishop Gilles Cote, the Sisters and lay volunteers are very proactive in providing basic assistance in the area of medical care and social programs, such as hygiene and health, together with spiritual and pastoral ministry.
The leaders in the camp affiliated or members with OPM are committed to the Independence Movement. My short conversations with them suggest a strong passion to pursue this, but it seems they lack understanding in regard to the geopolitical realities that impact on the region and which would no doubt make their struggle all the more difficult and violent. Their Independence Movement suffered a terrible blow when their leader, Theys Eluay, was abducted, tortured and then murdered in November 2001. It seems this was done by so-called "rogue elements" in the Indonesian Army ? always a convenient scapegoat group ? the rogue FBI agent, the rogue CIA ? to deflect blame.
The future of these camps along the Fly River is uncertain, but if they are all similar to the one that I visited three hours down The Fly, there is a sense of permanency about them. However Kiunga is the focal point and source of trade. Its future is dependent upon the Ok Tedi Mine, which I learned has an expected future of nine years. If the camps last that long, significant problems could very well develop in terms of social disruption and tension between the locals and the West Papuans.
In the meantime, the very proactive Bishop includes all 16 camps in the pastoral planning of the diocese. His image of the diocese is one of intersecting circles rather than hierarchical pyramid, with him, like a satellite, circling and engaging with all.
Vanimo
More recently, a small number of refugees from West Papua arrived in Vanimo and, on land provided by local Bishop Cesare Bonivento on the edge of town, have established a very well-constructed village with extensive gardens, the produce of which helps bring in income for them. The Bishop does provide some basic food, such as tinned fish and rice. In their enthusiasm for gardening, they have encroached on land belonging to the local government. This could become a cause of friction and already the Bishop has asked them to move off this land.
Just before I arrived in Vanimo, the Bishop received word that UNHCR was to come and interview these West Papuans, which hasn't been done since their arrival two or three years earlier, to determine their status. The Bishop believes that those who are determined to be refugees will be sent to East Awin (the Bishop still thinks that UNHCR is responsible for those living there).
Those who are determined not to be refugees will be returned home. The Bishop is concerned for their safety and wants help to set up what he calls an "Umbrella Program" or a "Collaborative Program" with the church in West Papua so that the returnees safety can be monitored and assistance be given to them when they do return.
He has also requested help from Caritas Australia and/or JRS to provide some legal advice prior to the interviews by UNHCR to brief the West Papuans on their legal rights.
Just before I arrived, some disaffected locals burnt down a government office and the local police had gone on strike because of the failure of the central government to improve the conditions of the police barracks, which had become almost uninhabitable. The law and order breakdown, which is evident in Port Moresby and the High Lands, is indeed spreading.
As Bishop Ambrose pointed out, PNG has its own problems and needs to address them before it accepts Australia's problems.
Conclusion
Australians in 10, 15 or even 20 years time, but hopefully sooner, will look back on this policy of the Pacific Solution with shame and regret. We will recognise it for what it is a xenophobic fear-ridden reaction, well served by obscene political opportunism in keeping with the now discredited White Australia Policy.
Karen Armstrong, in her book The Battle For God, writes about suffering and devastation experienced by the exile and, by extension, the refugee in these words:
"Exile is a spiritual as well as a physical dislocation. The world of the exile is wholly unfamiliar and, therefore, without meaning. A violent uprooting, which takes away all normal props, breaks up our world, snatches us forever from places that are saturated in memories crucial to our identity, and plunges us permanently in an alien environment, can make us feel that our very existence has been jeopardised. When exile is also associated with human cruelty, it raises urgent questions about the problem of evil in a world supposedly created by a just an benevolent God."
Jim Carty sm
Marist Refugee Office
1 Mary Street
Hunters Hill NSW 2110
6 June 2002
