Authorities pulled down temporary shelter

Sam Vulum
They shed tears when they left their homes in West Papua in search of a future across the border in Papua New Guinea.

They left with much hope of finding a new life to end the tears of misery, pain and struggle they endured in their alleged oppressive homeland. Unfortunately, many years later in PNG, the tears are still flowing.

This has been the plight of a group of about 100 West Papuans in Port Moresby. In what so far appears to be a troubled and treacherous escapade in search of a new future, it came to a head again on July 10 when their young children, most of whom were born and raised in PNG, openly shed tears as they watched helplessly while their parents wrestled with the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) security personnel over a sudden eviction notice served on them at 10am that morning.

Dump trucks loaded with security guards arrived at the camp site, taking refugees by surprise. Women and children scurried for cover while the men attempted to seek an explanation from the guards over their sudden eviction.

However, even before the West Papuan leaders were able to sight the eviction notice, the security guards had already pulled down their tents and moving families out.

This has been the fifth eviction for the West Papuans within a nine-month period. The first eviction notice was served on them on September 24, 2007 where police used force to remove them from their Eight Mile settlement homes, outside of Port Moresby.

They moved to Ela Beach then to the back of Boroko Police Station. They moved again to a residential home near Apex Park, then to the Apex Park Sports Oval from where they were evicted again to Rainbow Estate at Gerehu near a city dump road.

In defending the eviction, executive officer to the office of NCD Governor Ned Gond said the Apex Park is the property of the NCDC and therefore the eviction was legal since they settled on this property without proper amenities.

Port Moresby-based United Nations High Commission for Refugees representative  Wallaya Pura said she was aware of the plight of the West Papuans and was speaking to higher authorities. But she did not specify her position on the eviction.

UNHCR’s regional representative Richard Towle recently said there’s no need for the group to be resettled in a third country.

“This group and most West Papuans living in PNG have got an appropriate solution—what we call a durable solution—to remain in the country. There is no need for them to be resettled. And I have to say it would be difficult to persuade any traditional resettlement country like Australia or New Zealand to resettle this group.”

The head of the UNHCR Office in Port Moresby had earlier said the refugees have already been given asylum by the PNG Government and have the option to reside in the country with formal legal status.

This has been the government’s position regarding resettlement of the refugees in the suburb of Gerehu in Port Moresby. But the refugees have refused the PNG government’s offer through the Foreign Affairs Department and NCD Governor Powes Parkop. 

Parkop’s executive officer Gond said the West Papuans refused to settle on land that was provided for them at Gerehu Stage One by the PNG Foreign Affairs Department.

He said the continuous refusal by the West Papuans made it very hard for both the Foreign Affairs Department and NCDC to find amicable solutions to their plight.

Before their eviction, the West Papuans on July 1 staged a flag-raising ceremony at Apex Park to mark the 37th year of West Papuan Independence anniversary since its proclamation on July 1, 1971.

Chairman of OPM (PNG) Fred Waromi said they have been denied the rights to be refugees for the last 37 years.
Waromi said the UNHCR office in PNG was established because of the West Papuans who crossed to this Melanesian soil due to systematic onslaught by Indonesia to annihilate the aspirations of the West Papuans’ rights to self determination.

He said: “We are again seen camped at the Apex Park, this is a direct consequence of the event that took place 37 years ago and we will never forget or let our children forget the relentless efforts of Indonesia to render its stateless, landless, voiceless and powerless tactics against us.

“This response reverberates across the border and continues to affect our existence and attempts to bring us to our knees in Papua New Guinea.”

In a blog posted in The Melanesian website on July 2, a representative of the group Andrew Moutu said the West Papuans maintained their appeal for a resettlement in a third country.”