Tony Abbott will press PNG to speed up asylum seeker processing
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Version 0 of 1. The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, will press his Papua New Guinea counterpart Peter O’Neill on speeding up processing of asylum seekers – none of whom have had any claims finalised as yet – during his three-day official visit to the country. Abbott arrived in Port Moresby on Thursday evening for intergovernmental talks which are expected to cover the controversial Manus Island detention centre as well as economic ties between the two countries. He was met by the deputy prime minister, Leo Dion, and senior government ministers. “I’m very pleased and very proud of the assistance that PNG has given to Australia in this whole issue of people smuggling and its prevention,” Abbott said in Port Moresby. “I’ll certainly be talking to Prime Minister O’Neill over what we can do to swiftly get people out of the Manus camp and at least some resettled here in PNG, as was agreed with Prime Minister Rudd about nine months ago.” As part of the arrangement with Australia, PNG agreed to assist any asylum seekers found to be refugees to settle in PNG, although no claims have yet been finalised either way, and there is scant detail on how exactly settlement will be assisted by either government. The PNG government has set up a committee to establish a policy for processing and settlement, but the foreign minister, Rimbink Pato, on Friday conceded that no processing can take place without a proper policy, local media reported. The Manus Island regional processing centre currently detains about 1,300 asylum seekers. A recent violent incident in which one man, 23-year-old Reza Barati, was killed, and dozens of others injured, has brought further attention on the centre which has been routinely criticised by international human rights groups and the UN. Pato on Friday said the government would make public its reports on the incident after it completes its inquiries, and will then establish a separate coronial inquiry into the circumstances around Barati’s death. A PNG supreme court justice, David Cannings, is in the midst of an inquiry into alleged human rights violations occurring inside the centre, and in the past week has questioned a number of asylum seekers in court and toured the centre with legal representatives of both the asylum seekers and the PNG government. The inquiry is separate from a legal suit launched by opposition leader Belden Namah, which is challenging the constitutionality of the camp and the agreement between the two countries. Prior to leaving Canberra, Abbott prefaced the topics to be discussed between the two leaders, and said the focus will be on strengthening economic ties. Australia currently gives more than $500m per year in aid to PNG, with around $420m on infrastructure projects tied to the regional resettlement arrangement. Also expected to be discussed are the Exxon LNG project, and calls for PNG citizens to be granted visas on arrival when travelling to Australia on business. PNG recently banned visas on arrival for Australians in an apparent response to Australia’s refusal to return the favour. Abbott is touring PNG with a number of business representatives, including the managing director of Oil Search, Peter Botten; Rio Tinto executive Peter Taylor; the deputy CEO of ANZ Bank, Graham Hodges; and CEO of engineering company Clough, Kevin Gallagher. PNG has in recent years seen a boom in the resources industry which has brought increased foreign investment but also greater wealth inequality. |