The Governor of Manus Island Charlie Benjamin has declared that no refugee will be allowed to make a home in his province.
Mr Benjamin stated yesterday that he had been unaware of the cabinet’s decision to finalize the processes necessary to engage refugees in PNG jobs and citizenship adding that he would not allow this arrangement on Manus. "It's news to me and they will not find a home in Manus… they won’t be resettled here permanently, they're here to be moved on to another province or another country," Governor Benjamin said. The governor reminded all that the detention of asylum seekers on the island and the resettling of refugees in the country was a major part of Australia's offshore processing policy, designed to discourage dangerous boat journeys to Australia and that as such, PNG need not bring discomfort to its people while hosting a separate country’s burdens. He further added that he welcomed the prospect of refugees being released from detention but disclosed that it was not a part of his long term vision for his province. Governor Benjamin’s concern was raised after his office was made aware of the National Executive Council’s decision only on Wednesday. The NEC met on Monday and asked Immigration Minister Rimbink Pato to finalise all refugee status determinations. An Immigration’s officer who requested anonymity disclosed that the refugee status determinations will render the ministry capable of distinguishing genuine asylum seekers from the rest. The officer also said that the long-term plan for refugees in Papua New Guinea remains unclear and that the sentiment felt by most workers at the Immigrations Ministry is that more time could be spent on other immigration matters to do with the PNG populace.
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