governor calls on PNG not to ‘act like Australians’ on Manus

Port Moresby governor calls on PNG not to ‘act like Australians’ on Manus

Powes Parkop decries as 'repugnant' the detention of asylum seekers in a 'near prison-like environment                                                    'Helen Davidson

The governor of Port Moresby has called on Papua New Guinea not to “act like Australians” and to distance itself from Australia’s “treatment and attitude” towards asylum seekers, in an open letter criticising the Manus Island detention process.

Governor Powes Parkop also suggested that some Manus Island detainees be given freedom to work while they await processing, to address the country’s skills shortage crisis.

In an open letter to the minister for foreign affairs, Rimbink Pato, Parkop decried the detention of asylum seekers in a “near prison-like environment” as “repugnant to our traditional and contemporary culture and to our Christian values”.

The Manus Island detention facility currently holds about 1,270 asylum seekers, and faces constant criticism for its harsh conditions. Investigations are underway into the death of 23-year-old Reza Barati during violent incidents at the centre in February. Witnesses have said Barati was beaten to death by local PNG contractors during the unrest.

In his letter Parkop called on Pato to adopt a more humane and “morally superior” approach to processing asylum seekers than the current Australian-run system, which he said went against the UN convention on refugees, to which PNG is a signatory.

“This is an Australian practice which we should guard ourselves against,” Parkop wrote. “We are a compassionate nation and people known for our hospitality and compassion in reaching out to people in hardship, distress or seeking comfort.”

The letter, titled “(SOFT) HUMAN APPROACH TO ASYLUM SEEKERS” and dated 23 April, was published as a full page advertisement in two PNG newspapers, including the Post Courier.

It was copied to the PNG prime minister, Peter O’Neill, the Australian high commissioner, Deborah Stokes, and the media. Parkop told Guardian Australia he had had no response from PNG or Australian officials.

Parkop suggested the PNG authorities screen Manus Island detainees, and grant work permits to those with professional skills such as “engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, accounts [sic], etc” to address the country’s skills shortage.

Citing mental health problems created and exacerbated by the detention centre conditions, Parkop wrote that steps must be taken to ensure asylum seekers do not live in the “prison like” environment. He did not suggest skilled asylum seekers be given any further claim to settlement in PNG, but rather be allowed to work and “contribute socially and economically” while they waited for their applications to a “third or fourth” country to be processed.

“I understand our people are opposed to their settlement in PNG but I believe this attitude is influenced by the perception that some of these asylum seekers might be extremist or Muslim fanatics or trouble makers,” Parkop wrote. “Let us not demonize these people forever or collectively. Let’s have a more human approach that befits our culture, our moral and legal responsibility and let’s not act like Australians and allow their policies and culture of detention forever to dictate our approach.”

Parkop, governor of PNG’s capital city, is a former human rights lawyer. He is originally from Mbuke Island off the south coast of Manus Island, the Post Courier reported.

The Australian departments of Foreign Affairs and Immigration did not respond to requests for comment.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/06/port-moresby-governor-calls-on-png-not-to-act-like-australians-on-manus