PM: Citizens overseas will be brought home

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
PRIME Minster James Marape says Papua New Guinea citizens living overseas will be repatriated.
“They have to contact their local embassies and high commissions to make preparations to return,” he said.
“We are working on special arrangements to bring citizens like students, prisoners and other PNG citizens living overseas back to PNG.
“That process will be started later this week for the possible flight early next week.
“Those special flights will be organised and we ask our citizens who are abroad to report to our consulates in Brisbane and Cairns for them to report as to who they are for us to also see that they have medical clearance attached to their travel documents.
“When they come into the country, they will be isolated for 14 days and after given medical clearances before they will be released.
“First and foremost, it is our number one priority to ensure those who are coming in are Covid-19 free.
“And so we will give due care to them, including our prisoners.
“We are working and taking note that we have our PNG prisoners in Indonesian jails.”
However, Marape said illegal border crossers who were caught in either PNG or Indonesia during the state of emergency would be penalised heavily.
“I have already spoken to Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo if he can assist by locking PNG citizens up in jails in Papua province for illegal entry.
“We will also lock up Indonesian citizens who have illegally crossed into the PNG side of the border. So that understanding has been established and we ask our citizens to bear with us,” he said.