PNG rejects UNHCR concern over Manus detention centre

By Eoin Blackwell, AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

PAPUA New Guinea's attorney general says his country's legal system is equipped to deal with refugee processing and human rights issues, in the wake of a tough assessment by the United Nations.

Attorney-General Kerenga Kua on Friday dismissed an assessment by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, that PNG lacks "any national capacity" to implement its international refugee obligations.
Australia is preparing to send refugees to a facility on Manus Island within weeks following negotiations with the government of Peter O'Neill.
"I refute that totally," Mr Kua told AAP.
"I don't see how one could possibly say that PNG has inadequate regulatory or legal framework to deal with the issues when we have one of the best constitutions in the world in as far as protection of human rights is concerned.
"You cannot find a codified set of human rights in Australia, whereas we do. It is part of our constitution."

PNG's 37-year-old constitution codifies most of the rights contained in the the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
In his October 9 letter to Mr Bowen, Mr Guterres said the UN agency was concerned about the Pacific nation's failure to sign treaties against torture, as well as the lack of procedures for the determination of refugee status.
"We recognise that efforts are presently being made to identify and train a small cadre of officers in asylum and refugee issues," Mr Guterres was quoted as saying in PNG and Australian media.
"Over time, capacity will improve but, depending on the scale and complexity of the task and processing cases and protecting refugees under the bilateral arrangements, it will likely remain insufficient for an important period of time."
The Manus facility, located at a naval base on the tiny island, is currently being rebuilt by Australian defence force personnel to house as many as 600 refugees.
Mr Kua said PNG was ready and able to handle the intake.
"Where detailed work is required, that will be developed and is being developed and will initially take the form of an administrative management agreement between Australia and PNG to set out the functional details," he said.
Australia has entered a similar agreement with Nauru.
Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs has just returned from a UN fact-finding mission on Christmas Island and says refugees there are concerned about being sent to Nauru.
"We asked a lot of questions. Obviously I'm there to look at the human rights standards and the 150 or so people I talked to either in groups or individually almost invariably were very grateful for the facilities and their treatment," she told the ABC on Friday.
"But their enormous mental anxiety lay with the fear that they would be transferred to Nauru, that their assessment would not take place for some months and would not be over for many years."
She said facilities on Christmas Island were nearing capacity and overcrowding was becoming an issue.
"I think the facilities for a relatively short period of four to six weeks' transfer assessment are adequate for modest numbers," she said.
"The great difficulty is that the numbers are rising and numbers of families are rising, and that is where what would appear to be appropriate facilities become crammed and overcrowded facilities."
Meanwhile, Australian authorities have intercepted a boat carrying 70 people off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
It's the fourth boat arrival in two days, taking the total number of people who have been picked up since Tuesday to 334.
The new arrivals will be taken to a detention centre on Christmas Island for security and health check

Australia defends PNG plan for refugees

AFP/Sydney

Australia said yesterday that it was on track to send asylum-seekers to impoverished Papua New Guinea (PNG) despite the United Nations raising concerns about the country’s ability to handle refugees.
In a letter to Canberra, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said it was not clear to his agency that the transfer of boatpeople to Papua New Guinea was “fully appropriate”.
It was the UNHCR’s assessment that PNG “does not have the legal safeguards nor the competence or capacity to shoulder alone the responsibility of protecting and processing asylum-seekers transferred by Australia”, he wrote.
But a spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said that asylum-seekers were set to arrive on PNG’s Manus Island within weeks.
“We have consulted with and tabled correspondence by the UNHCR – and as always, we take on board issues they have raised,” the spokesman said.
“We continue to work with the PNG government on implementation and expect the first transfers... occurring in coming weeks,” he added.
Australia announced a tough new policy for boatpeople in August under which they will be sent to the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru or Manus Island in PNG while their claims for refugee status are assessed.
The policy is designed to deter people from making the dangerous boat journey to Australia after scores of deaths en route, but has so far failed to stem the record flow of arrivals this year.
More than 4,000 boatpeople have turned up since the policy was announced, with vessels arriving most days, the last bringing 53 people yesterday.
Australia’s Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs said asylum-seekers she spoke to said the policy would not have deterred them from coming to Australia, but they were worried about what happened after arriving.
Triggs recently returned from Christmas Island, Australia’s remote Indian Ocean immigration processing centre, and said most of the people she spoke to were grateful for the facilities and their treatment.
“But their enormous mental anxiety lay with the fear that they would be transferred to Nauru, that their assessment would not take place for some months and would not be over for many years,” she told ABC radio.
The new policy was introduced after a flood of boatpeople to Australia this year – with more than 11,736 arriving so far – many of them Afghans, Iraqis and Iranians who have paid people-smugglers to ferry them from Indonesia

PNG not ready for refugee transfers: UNHCR

By Ehssan Veiszadeh of AAP 

The federal government has defended its plan to send asylum-seeker boat arrivals to Papua New Guinea after a warning from the United Nations the country is not yet ready for the transfers.
In a letter sent to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres said PNG had neither the "legal safeguards nor the competence" to process transferred asylum seekers on Manus Island.
Mr Guterres said PNG was not yet party to the UN conventions on torture and statelessness and warned the nation lacked the necessary legal framework to address refugee issues.
There was also a risk of local PNG authorities sending asylum seekers back to their countries of origin, particularly given the "porous and often unregulated" nature of its borders.
He concluded the country did not have the "legal safeguards nor the competence or capacity to shoulder alone the responsibility of protecting and processing asylum seekers transferred by Australia".
"At best, we would see the transfers as a shared and joint legal responsibility under the Refugee Convention and other applicable human rights instruments," Mr Guterres said in the letter dated October 9.
A spokesperson for the minister said the government was still on track to send the first group of asylum seekers to Manus Island within weeks.
"As part of the designation process we have consulted with and tabled correspondence by the UNHCR - and as always, we take on board issues they have raised," the spokesperson said.
"We continue to work with the PNG government on implementation and expect the first transfers ... occurring in coming weeks, with further details to be announced in due course."
They added that PNG had assured the Australian government it would assess asylum claims in-line with the Refugee Convention.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young accused Mr Bowen of ignoring expert advice about its offshore processing regime.
"The letter has revealed just how inadequate the situation on PNG is, where there isn't even one person with the relevant experience and training that is required to process refugees," she said in a statement.
"Desperate and vulnerable people are still doing whatever they can to seek asylum and that obviously won't change until we give them safer pathways."
The government ultimately hopes to be able to send up to 600 asylum seekers to Manus Island, which the Rudd government closed in 2008.
Meanwhile, another 40 male asylum seekers were transferred to Nauru's offshore processing facility on Friday.
The 17 Iraqis and 23 Sri Lankans will now be settled into their accommodation at the temporary facility.
This takes the total number of people transferred to Nauru to 254

Welcome to Port Moresby!

A good picture is worth a thousand words. This picture of a sign at Waigani today tells you why Port Moresby is a buai pekpek (betelnut shit) city, and undoubtedly the filthiest capital city on earth!

mv Fly Warrior launched

Tabubil, PNG: The last of three ships procured by Ok Tedi Development Foundation (OTDF) on behalf of the Fly River communities, mv Fly Warrior, was launched from the Sarawak Slipways yard in Malaysia on September 22.

mv Fly Warrior before it was launched from the Saraway Slipways in Malaysia.

 The 65m bulk cargo/fuel carrier was blessed and then named before being launched by Toti Sapera, one of the women leaders from the South Fly region in Western Province, and Pakki Parker, wife of OTDF chairman Nigel Parker.

Present from PNG to witness the launching were Parker, OTDF CEO Ian Middleton, OTDF trust administrator Renagi Koiro, OTDF North Fly regional coordinator Belden Dasa and the trust chairmen of Tutute, Nupmo, Waitri, Middle Fly, Suki Fly Gogo, Manawete, Kiwai and Dudi. 

Representatives from OTML and OTDF together with the chairmen from the Trust regions and Sarawak Slipways management and staff with the mv Fly Warrior in the background.

Parker, who is also the managing director and CEO of Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML), said apart from the other two vessels OTDF had purchased for the benefit of its Fly River communities, the mv Fly Warrior was another a significant step forward into making sure the communities’ investment funds were put to good use.

“It is a real pleasure to stand here today to witness this launching knowing that investment funds belonging to the people are utilised in such investments so that your communities will receive greater value in return for their funds,” he said.

“Our vision is to see the lives of our community river partners improve so that they can be self-sustainable.”

Adding to Parker’s comments, Middleton said that mv Fly Warrior including its two sister ships mv Fly Hope and mv Fly Explorer would generate long-term development benefits for the 156 villages that currently benefited from the Ok Tedi Community Mine Continuation Agreement (CMCA).

“The long term benefits that will come from these key investments will not happen overnight, but will gradually filter into the communities through development projects and programmes,” he said.

“OTDF now looks forward to facilitating further development into these communities, be it agriculture, health, education or transport infrastructure.”

mv Fly Warrior will be on dry hire to OTML and will be generating a minimum 8%  return per annum on a capital investment of US$8 million.

The vessel was designed by Shiptech in Singapore then constructed by Sarawak Slipways and will be operated by V Ships, the world’s largest shipping fleet manager. 

mv Fly Warrior will primarily service OTML’s operational requirements (carrying up to 72 containers and or 1.2 million litres of fuel) out of Port Moresby but has the capacity to call Australia when required.

mv Fly Warrior is expected to arrive in Western province and be welcomed up the Fly River in December.

Western province communities receive first aircraft

Tabubil, PNG: A new aircraft belonging to the Fly River people that benefit from the operations of the Ok Tedi mine arrived in the Western province on October 8, 2012.

The aircraft, a brand new Series 400 Twin Otter manufactured by Viking in Canada, is the first of two aircraft Ok Tedi Development Foundation Limited (OTDF) has procured on behalf of the 156-villages currently benefiting from the Ok Tedi Community Mine Continuation Agreement (CMCA).

On arrival into the country,  the aircraft was given a rousing welcome at Suki in the South Fly district by traditional dancers and villagers before it flew to Tabubil to be received by OTDF chairman and Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) managing director and chief executive officer Nigel Parker, OTML general manager government and external relations Musje Werror and staff of both organisations.

Parker said the decision to purchase the aircraft would not have been possible without the vision of the CMCA community leaders and the efforts of OTDF to enable this vision.

“These aircraft have a good 30-year life to them and I trust and hope that they will serve the communities well,” he said.

“I must commend the community leaders for embracing this vision as this decision leverages the value of compensation being received by the communities from the mine to much higher returns in both tangible, visible and long life assets for the benefit of their communities.”

OTDF CEO Ian Middleton,  who travelled on the aircraft described its arrival as an historic occasion for PNG, Western province and the people living within the CMCA regions.

“This is a significant occasion for the people and a wonderful opportunity made possible by the operational requirements of OTML,” he said.

“On behalf of the CMCA communities, OTDF has secured a 15-year master lease agreement with OTML with a guaranteed 8% return per annum for the aircraft.

“This will generate valuable sustainable development funds that will benefit not only current but also future generations.”

Associate director on the OTDF board representing the people of the North Fly, Michael Gen thanked OTDF and OTML for helping the communities improve their livelihood through such investments and for giving them hope.

“The arrival of this aircraft shows that we are working together with our partners and delivering our people their real needs,” he said.

This Twin Otter is the first of two aircraft OTDF has facilitated the purchase of, at a cost of US$7.4 million, for the 100,000-plus people of the CMCA regions who will now share in the benefits of a long term lease.

The aircraft will be operated from a Tabubil base by a dedicated team of Hevilift pilots and engineers. 

In Port Moresby today

Here are some of my best shots from my wanderings around Port Moresby today.

View from the 5th floor of Morauta Haus, Chief Secretary Manasupe Zurenuoc's conference room, towards Sir John Guise Drive, Waigani, this morning. At right is the big 'white elephant' known as the Pineapple Building!-All pictures by MALUM NALU

Cruising down the freeway today on my way to Downtown Port Moresby!

The harbour looked pretty as a picture when we were cruising down the freeway today!

The view was breathtakingly beautiful as we cruised down the freeway today!

We missed the Hiri Moale Festival last month and hope it's not gone forever!

Bottleneck as we try to squeeze our way into Downtown Port Moresby today!

Crowne Plaza Hotel in Downtown Port Moresby may look gray compared to its flashy new neighbour, the Grand Papua Hotel, however, it's still the place to meet and do business!

Downtown Port Moresby today. Notice something? The place looks clean because the buai sellers are being chased away, and rightfully so!

The 20-storey Grand Papua Hotel, the tallest building in Port Moresby and PNG, towers over Downtown Port Moresby today.

Bank South Pacific and Deloittes Tower show their true colours against a cloudless Port Moresby sky today.

Work on the Holiday Inn extension at Waigani today.

I love Papua New Guineans because we have no brains, as this picture shows! The sign reads: "Yusim het bilong yu, noken spet (use your brains, don't spit)", however, some brainless has already spat it red!