Authority aware of refugee issues

THE PNG Immigration and Citizenship Authority says it is aware of self-harm incidents by refugees on Manus and has approached Australia and service providers to address the problem.
Chief migration officer Solomon Kantha yesterday said: “We have observed an increase in self-harm incidents in recent weeks after the Liberal party won the elections in Australia.
“With the recent change in political leadership in Papua New Guinea, these incidents have again increased to seek attention to their plight.
“Papua New Guinea continues to work with Australia since the closure of the Manus regional processing centre in October 2017 to find durable outcomes for refugees and have so far resettled up to 200 refugees in the United States through the US refugee resettlement programme.
“A few more refugees will be resettled to the US by the end of this month,” Kantha said.
“PNG welcomes those that wish to settle in the country which some have successfully done so and have considered PNG their home.
“We have a lot of success stories with refugees in PNG who are enjoying the work they do and even one refugee who wants to represent PNG in kickboxing.
Australia has been firm in its position that those travelling illegally to Australia by sea, will not be resettled in Australia and with the Liberal government remaining in power this position may not change.
“Those that are found not to be refugees must return home and move on with their lives.”
Close to 600 non-refugees have already returned home voluntarily through the assisted voluntary return programme managed by the International Organisation for Migration.
“We will continue to work with Australia and our international partners to reduce the caseload in Manus by the end of this year and eventually close the facility,” Kantha said.