Make PNG a place of hope for migrants

LAHSEN Ouladeljhaj arrived in Papua New Guinea from Morocco in 1997 and spent almost nine years in Ward 8 at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
He was finally flown home on Dec 3 last year.
His story drew curiosity as well as sympathy from many when the media first reported the now-famous case of a young Moroccan who contracted Japanese encephalitis – a severe form of cerebral malaria which totally paralysed him.
His family learnt of his misfortune when a Moroccan national who worked for the UNAIDS office in Port Moresby read his story in the media and contacted friends in Europe to help set up a blog on the internet to find assistance for Lahsen to send him back home.
A French newspaper early last year picked it up from the internet and also published his story.
Numerous efforts to send him home failed because of the financial costs involved.
Lahsen’s travel was finally made possible by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) which recently set up a new mission in the country.
IOM assists migrants who wish to voluntarily return home and the assistance provided to Lahsen was based solely on humanitarian grounds.
Lahsen perhaps would not have survived if not for the medical expertise of his treating physician, Dr David Linge, and the nurses.
Due to the severity of his illness when he first arrived at the hospital, Lahsen underwent a tracheotomy operation to remove his vocal cord, rendering him incommunicative.
I have since found out that Lahsen has a Masters degree in English literature and can speak English, French, Arabic and even understand Tok Pisin because of the many years of interaction with nurses at the hospital.
The medical care given to Lahsen at the Port Moresby General Hospital surprised many abroad of how a migrant patient was able to survive Japanese encephalitis in an under developed country.
The treatment given to Lahsen as a foreign migrant speaks highly of the humanitarian efforts rendered by PNG’s doctors and nurses.
Lahsen’s story and his ordeal is perhaps unfamiliar to many in PNG and the Pacific but it represents the strife of millions of migrants that travel across international borders every year in search of better livelihood and job opportunities.
Many unfortunate people particularly in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America are forced to cross international borders to escape civil conflicts and wars and in the hope of finding a country that will accept them.
Lahsen’s story also opens up a new dimension of the need for PNG to effectively deal with migration issues and manage migration.
With the assistance of related international organisations and donor governments, PNG should start considering the vitality of providing facilities that are needed to care for and assist migrants to safely return to their home country.

Solomon Kantha
Port Moresby