Churches criticise Australia’s asylum seekers policy - CathNews New Zealand

Churches criticise Australia’s asylum seekers policy

Tuesday, August 27th, 2013

Churches the Pacific region are concerned about plans to send people seeking asylum in Australia to Papua New Guinea for assessment and resettlement.

In PNG, Christian leaders have asked their Prime Minister O’Neill to reconsider the refugee deal he signed with Australia.

During a press conference last Wednesday in Port Moresby, the PNG Council of Churches, and the PNG Christian Leaders Alliance on HIV/AIDS said there needed to be proper consultation with the people through the churches before such deals were signed.

Catholic Archbishop John Ribat said, “The asylum seekers are interested in settling in Australia, not PNG. We have been forced to take in something we are not capable of handling.

In Samoa the Pacific Conference of Churches general secretary, Rev. Francois Pihaatae called on Australia and Papua New Guinea to reveal the terms of their asylum seeker processing and resettlement agreement.

Source

Ecumenical News
Image: The Guardian

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News category: Asia Pacific.

Tags: Asylum Seekers, François Pihaate, John Ribat

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