Opposition leader calls for investigations into refugee funds

Opposition Leader Joseph Lelang is calling for investigations into allegations of abuse of Australian taxpayers’ money earmarked for refugee upkeep in Papua New Guinea under the Refugee Resettlement Programme (RRA).
Lelang said these serious allegations raised by whistleblowers obviously involved senior officers in PNG Immigrations and Citizenship Service Authority (PNGICA) because the issues raised were not isolated. He said he was aware that the Australian newspaper ‘The Guardian’ had already published the story. But the Australian Home Affairs remained tight-lipped given the code of secrecy in the RRA programme.
However, the allegations raised issues that the money from Australia was channelled into a trust account created without approval by the immigration board and without the knowledge of the Minister.
“Allegations of selected service providers inflated invoices with exorbitant amounts to the administrator of the trust accounts and siphoning funds under the guise of providing services to refugees.
Allegations by most of the refugees and many extensively reported in the media expressing concerns that the services provided were nil or limited.
“They are serious issues that must be investigated,” Lelang said.
Lelang said according to the allegations reported, some prominent people in the business sector including politicians were featured in the trust account.
“More allegations revealing the same people in the trust account are again setting up companies as service providers and siphoning the RRA funds is shocking,” he said.
Lelang said the investigations’ terms of reference must be extended to cover issuance of contracts for construction of asylum centre’s linked to Asian fugitives and politicians linked to illegal drugs and recent security contract to manage the Immigration Refugees detention centre at Bomana.