Churches in Papua New Guinea say they are seeking urgent talks with both Australian and PNG authorities in order to gain access to the asylum seeker detention camp on Manus Island.
The churches say they want to provide counselling and reconciliation services for those affected by the violence.
Fr Victor Roache, General Secretary, PNG Catholic Bishops Conference, in an interview on Radio Australia said the churches asked “to be allowed to go into the centre and give some counselling to the people who are affected, and we were not given the opportunity, we were not allowed to go in.”
“I think it is one church that had an access to go, which means it has obviously failed. So we are calling on both the governments that the churches, especially I think there are two, three mainline churches in Manus at this time, including the Catholic Church, which is the majority there, that a priest or a pastor of a church or some counsellor should be allowed to go in and help these people who are affected, or maybe a committee setup so that these reconciliation can take place that the local community and the refugees can live in peace.”
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News category: Asia Pacific.
