Last Thursday, Human Rights Watch Australia published a report explaining that, despite two years of processing, very few detainees have left Australia’s Manus Island detention centre.
The report is a fresh reminder that forced integration can throw up some wicked dilemmas, whether it is in Nauru or Australia’s other offshore resettlement facility on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.
By introducing migrants that are ill-suited and ill-prepared for integration into PNG, Australia’s refugee resettlement agreement with Port Moresby may risk sowing the seeds for a future sectarian conflict.
The Manus settlers are almost all Muslim and will be entering a conservative Christian nation whose only mosque is frequently stoned and vandalised.
While there are common values shared by Christianity and Islam, popular anxieties in PNG about Sharia law and violent Islamic extremism may generate suspicion towards the Manus settlers.
Last year Bernard Yegiora a lecturer Department of PNG Studies and International Relations at Divine Word University posed a number of question regarding the agreement settlement:
- How will Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians, Afghans, Sri Lankans and others fit into our society?
- Will they be respected and given their privacy?
- How will they interact with individuals from different indigenous ethnic groups?
- How will they handle racial discrimination?
- Will they feel free to move around and engage in economic activities?
“In a self-proclaimed Christian nation like PNG, what kind of treatment will refugees who are non-Christians get?” asks Yegiora.
“Most asylum seekers come from nations where a large proportion of their population practices Islam. Once they settle, the number of Muslims in PNG will increase.”
“Papua New Guineans are known for their gullibility. The radical teachings of a Christian leader can move believers to form opinions which may be detrimental to peace among different religious sects,” he says.
“The possibility of experiencing religious discrimination and segregation may lead to the creation of Christian and Muslim militant groups.”
Source
- William Stoltz lowyinterpreter.org
- asopa.typepad.co
- dwu.ac.pg