PNG protesters volunteer to go back home
A group of 40 Papua New Guineans who landed illegally on a small Australian island in the Torres Strait claiming to be Australian citizens have agreed to return to PNG.
The group landed on Saibai Island within sight of the PNG mainland a week ago saying they wanted to help celebrate Australia Day, a Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) spokesman said.
The group of 36 men and four women were illegal entrants who did not claim to be refugees, did not seek protection and all had agreed to return to PNG, he said.
A group of 26 were dropped off on the PNG island of Daru by Australian Customs vessels, three were returned to nearby PNG villages by Saibai Islanders and the remaining 11 were to be returned to Daru.
The group are part of a Papuan movement in PNG's south who want Australia to recognise that Papuans were not given a choice to remain Australians when PNG became independent in 1975.
The DIAC spokesman said the Australian government was assisting with any subsequent travel arrangements for the members of the group, including payment of airfares and road transport.
DIAC officials gave the group information about the operation of Australian citizenship law and an Australian High Court judgement in 2005 that rejected Papuan claims to be Australian citizens, he said.
They were invited to submit their particulars to determine if any of them had claims to Australian citizenship.
Saibai regularly hosts Papua New Guineans who cross to Australia's northern-most Torres Strait Islands under traditional crossing agreements without going through formal immigration procedures.
The group stayed at the community hall on the island, which has a population of only a few hundred.
In November, PNG police fired warning shots to disperse hundreds of Papuans protesting outside the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby to demand recognition as Australian citizens.
Former Papua, covering what is now the southern half of the PNG mainland, became an Australian territory under the Papua Act of 1905 and Papuan-born people acquired Australian citizenship under Australia's 1948 Citizen Act.
The Papuan campaign for Australian citizenship in PNG aims to collect 500,000 signatures on a petition to take to the United Nations to urge a referendum on the issue.
|