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By HARLYNE JOKU
MORE than 12 West Papuans families evicted from the 8 Mile settlement in
Port Moresby have camped outside the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
office at Ela Beach.
They are hoping that the UNHCR will resettle them in a third country.
They were evicted from their houses at 8 Mile three weeks ago and group
spokesman Samuel Inggamer said they would not go back there.
“We will remain here until someone from the Government or UNHCR makes it
clear to us whether we can be resettled to a third country,” he told The
National.
He said they preferred not to be in Papua New Guinea as the Government
was friendly with Indonesia and could not guarantee them their freedom.
He added that the Indonesian government was using other West Papuans to
convince them to return to the Papua province of Indonesia where they
originally came from.
Mr Inggamer and representatives of his group met with the UNHCR’s PNG
representative, Wallaya Pera, on Sept 27, and were told that West
Papuans who had been granted asylum here would be considered for
resettlement.
She told them that resettlement to the third countries was reserved for
refugees who could not integrate in the countries of first asylum or who
faced serious protection or security issues.
A West Papuan who is now a PNG citizen said: “There must be some
misunderstanding or lack of communication between this particular group,
the UNHCR and the PNG Government.”
He said he understood the PNG Government’s position and that it had look
after West Papuans well.
It was learnt that leaders of the West Papuan community here were
planning to meet these families to persuade them to accept PNG as their
home.
 
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