Vanuatu ready to take us, say West Papua refugees
By NELSON K PHILIP
THE West Papuan refugees who were evicted from Eight-Mile, National Capital District, last year said land was no longer an issue as they wanted to leave for a third country despite the reluctance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to resettle them.
Leader of the West Papuan displaced refugees Freddy Waromi said there were 148 people from 25 families living under makeshift tents and tarpaulins, with only one water tap and a dug pit toilet.
Mr Waromi said the Vanuatu council of chiefs (Mal Vatu Mauri national council of chiefs) had agreed to accept them as Melanesian brothers and sisters.
“The Vanuatu council of chiefs has indicated to adopt us as Melanesian brothers and sisters, but the only problem is that Vanuatu is not a signatory to the UN refugee charter.
“The UNHCR office here in Port Moresby is negotiating with the PNG Government to release us so that we can be resettled in Vanuatu,” Mr Waromi said.
However, ABC news reported that the UNHCR would not resettle the West Papuan refugees living in PNG in Vanuatu.
The UNHCR regional representative in Canberra, Richard Towle, said the West Papuans had been campaigning to the UNHCR to be resettled in Vanuatu but their plea had been rejected.
“From our point of view, resettlement is really a last resort for the most deserving on the basis of protection needs and we don’t think that this group falls within that category,” he said.
Mr Towle said the PNG Government would rather see the refugees return home across the border to the Indonesian-governed Papua.
According to Mr Waromi, the UNHCR granted them refugee status in 1980 and the PNG Government had also earlier granted them permissive residential status, but now both parties wanted to repatriate the refugees back to West Papua.
“UNHCR wanted us to go back to West Papua but the sad fact is that we will be dead when we go back.
“UNHCR arranged for some of our Melanesian brothers to go back to East Awin in 2001 and none of those who got repatriated are alive today; they are all dead.
“Yes, the PNG Government wants us to go back to West Papua because there’s no land to settle us, but we will be dead when we return; that’s why our Melanesian brothers from Vanuatu offered to accept us.”
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