Manus island migrants moved to Papua New Guinea
Port Moresby (AsiaNews) - Papua New Guinea will start the procedures for the relocation of migrants living in detention centers on the island of Manus. The move was announced by Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who stated that this will enable those people to have "a new beginning".
In 2013, Australia signed the ‘Regional Resettlement Agreement, (RRA) with Papua New Guinea: Canberra has poured $ 300 million into the pockets of Port Moresby, which has agreed to host the migrants on its territory. Under "the RRA - said Dutton - persons transferred Papua New Guinea who are recognized as refugees, will be relocated to Papua. No one will be hosted in Australia".
About 1000 migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia had been held on the island in inhumane conditions for four years. Neither Australia nor Papua New Guinea allowed them within their own borders.
In February 2014, following the news that they had been denied transfer to Australia, migrants held violent protests, which resulted in the death of a 23 year old Iranian immigrant, Reza Barati. Last month, the trial of the alleged killers began: a member of the Salvation Army (which ran the detention centre at the time of the murder), and a security guard.
In recent years, thousands of refugees have reached the Christmas island, [Australian but very close to Indonesia ed] hoping to be allowed into Australia. They were instead taken to Papua New Guinea, to the island of Nauru, where they were registered.
According to Dutton, their relocation shows "the Papuan government’s commitment to allow refugees to resume their lives and have a fresh start in a dynamic nation and economic growth." In reality, Papua New Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world and cannot even guarantee jobs for its inhabitants.
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23/07/2013
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