Work is underway in Papua New Guinea to come up with recommendations for the government on the best way to re-settle refugees, currently in detention at Manus Island. It will spend the next few weeks consulting non-government organisations, businesses and other community groups. The panel’s deputy chair is the Archbishop of Port Moresby John Ribat. Read more
There are 1296 asylum seekers being held in the Australian detention centre on the Papua New Guinea Island of Manus. Most are from troubled Middle East and Asian countries. The highest number is from Iran (533), followed by Afghanistan (134), Pakistan (104), Iraq (94). There are also 90 Sudanese, 47 Somalis and a handful of Read more
The Archbishop of Rabaul in PNG says local community leaders on Manus had been left in the dark over the details for Australia’s offshore processing centre for asylum seekers. Archbishop Francesco Panfilo says he was surprised to discover when he visited Manus last year that community leaders had not seen any of the official documentation Read more
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands says it is appalled to hear of recent disturbances at the Manus Island detention centre resulting in death and injury for the asylum seekers. The The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands has consistently spoken against offshore processing in PNG Read more
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 Read more
Radio New Zealand has reported that a doctor on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea has confirmed there was a “mass breakout” from an Australian detention centre for asylum seekers. An Australia-based refugee group had claimed some of the 13-hundred detainees escaped after a day of protests. Australia’s Department of Immigration would only say there Read more
Asylum-seekers transferred from Australia to Pacific island detention centres, including survivors of torture and trauma and unaccompanied children, are living in arbitrary detention and harsh physical conditions that do not meet international standards In his recent Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis calls for generosity towards migrant people. He says, “Migrants present a particular challenge Read more
Tony Abbott says Nauru is a “pleasant island” that can accommodate up to 5000 asylum seekers. During the election campaign he told Neil Mitchell the ‘tent city’ asylum seeker policy would cost about $50 million to set up. Abbott said reports of $75 a week in handouts for asylum seekers was incorrect – “we’re looking Read more
An agreement has now been reached with Nauru, which is similar to the one already concluded with Papua New Guinea – to take more asylum seekers who arrive by boat in Australia and if they are found to be genuine refugees they’ll be settled permanently in Nauru. Father Frank Brennan who is professor of law at Read more
Following a two hour visit Australia’s Immigration Minister Tony Burke declared Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island detention centre ‘adequate’ and ‘ready for expansion’. But a former Salvation Army staff member who helped deliver services at the centre says that won’t be easy And she’s warned the centre will never be appropriate for the small children Read more