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Forced repatriation from Papua New Guinea

The following letter was sent by TAPOL to the UNHCR on 4 March 2003

Head, Regional Bureau of Asia and Oceania,
UNHCR,
Geneva

Dear Madam or Sir,

Forced repatriation from Papua New Guinea

I am writing to you as a matter of great urgency to draw your attention to the stated intention of the government of Papua New Guinea to forcibly repatriate next week a group of 400 Papuans who took refuge across the border from Papua, Indonesia. The news item received today is as follows:

PNG Post Courier

Monday 03rd March, 2003

Repatriation to start

MORE than 400 border crossers living in a camp at the edge of Vanimo town will be repatriated to their homes in West Papua next week.

The National Government has issued a directive for the repatriation of the border crossers starting on March 13. The government directive is for the border crossers to be asked to voluntarily repatriate back to their homes on the other side of the border. If they refuse, police would be used to forcefully repatriate them.

The border crossers, mainly from Wamena village, fled their homes in December 2001 following a skirmish between the Operasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) and Indonesian soldiers. They have been living at a location generally known as the Transmitter, just outside Vanimo town.

The refugees consist of mainly of women, children and elderly men, although a number of younger men living in the camp have been reported to be active members of the OPM.

Government sources said the Catholic Church and border administration officials would be notified of the directives this week.

[Note: Operasi Papua Merdeka should read Organisasi Papua Merdeka.]

The intended repatriation is clearly in breach of the UN Convention on Refugees and could serious endanger the lives and personal safety of the persons concerned.

We call on the UNHCR to intervene immediately with the PNG Government and press upon them the fact that they will be acting in breach of the Convention on Refugees if they proceed and should therefore halt this programme.

We would draw your attention also to the increased level of armed conflict along the border between Indonesia and PNG in the past few months, which means that this is a particularly inappropriate time for the West Papuans to be forced back.

I would greatly appreciate your early attention to this matter and to have your assurance that your esteemed organisation will take the necessary action to prevent this forcible repatriation from taking place.

Yours sincerely,

Carmel Budiardjo,
Director, TAPOL

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