Media Release
Friday March 10 2006
Commission Calls For Action on West Papuan Asylum Seekers
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission is urging the Federal Government to expedite the processing of claims for asylum by 43 people from the Indonesian province of Papua who arrived on a boat on Cape York in January.
The asylum seekers have been placed on Christmas Island by the Immigration Department and are claiming that they will be persecuted if they are forced to return to Papua.
The Commission’s Executive Officer, Peter Arndt said that the Commission is keen to see that the asylum seekers’ claims of persecution by the Indonesian military are dealt with fairly and honestly.
“The Commission is gravely concerned by on-going reports of substantial human rights abuses in the province we know as West Papua,” Mr Arndt said.
“We find it difficult to understand how both the Government and the Opposition seem to play down the issue of human rights abuse in West Papua,” he said.
“One of our Commission members regularly visits the province and confirms the stories of significant mistreatment of the local indigenous population by Indonesian security forces,” he said.
“A recent University of Sydney report on West Papua indicates that the Indonesian security forces in the province are responsible for many killings, illegal logging, corruption, destabilisation and manipulation of local politics, the introduction of illegal arms, the recruitment and training of militia to terrorise the local population, and the introduction of HIV/AIDS through prostitutes,” he said.
“There is strong evidence that the actions of the Indonesian military are wiping out the indigenous population of Papua,” he said.
“The arrival of the Papuan asylum seekers is bringing this issue to a head and the Australian Government must not shirk its responsibility to defend the human rights of the people of Papua,” he said.
“The human rights of these Papuans must take priority over other political or diplomatic considerations,” he said.
“Our Commission puts the greatest stress on this point because the dignity of the human person is at the heart of the Gospel message which Catholic Social Teaching has consistently argued,” he said.
Mr Arndt challenged both the Government and the Labor Opposition to take a stronger stand on claims of human rights abuses in West Papua.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to the horrible things which are happening in our neighbourhood,” Mr Arndt said.
“In the face of so many reports of abuse, it is not good enough to accept the assurances of the new Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, Teuku Mohammad Hamzah Thayeb, that the 43 asylum seekers would not be persecuted if they were sent home,” he said.
“The reports of abuse are so frequent and credible that they must be treated seriously when assessing the cases of the asylum seekers,” he said.
“Our national leaders need to urge our Indonesian neighbours to end this dreadful abuse and negotiate a peaceful settlement with Papuan leaders,” he said.
The Commission will seek to inform Catholics in the Archdiocese about the situation in West Papua and will launch a campaign to lobby the Government and the Opposition to push for an end to human rights abuses in West Papua.
For more information, please contact Peter Arndt on (07) 3336 9173 or 0409 265 476.
NB This release is issued with the approval of the Commission or its Executive under the provision of its Charter which enables it to speak in its own right. Its views do not necessarily represent those of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.