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Papua New GuineaJRS Australia Project in PNG JRS Australia Project in Papua New GuineaContextOver 10,000 refugees from West Papua resided in Papua New Guinea. Many are without any official status and have limited knowledge of their future options. RationaleAs an international NGO with expertise in advocacy for refugees there is a pressing need for JRS to assist the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga, PNG in knowledge and skills that will strengthen their capacity to advocate with the refugees for rights and entitlements. Overall GoalProvide accurate information and advocacy skills to diocesan workers and refugees in Western province Papua New Guinea, concerning the rights and realistic options for border refugees. Objectives
Beneficiaries10,000 refugees from West Papua, especially those along the border (approximately 7,500). InvolvementJRS has visited this area in PNG for assessment twice: once in 1984 and then in 1994 by JRS AP regional directors. In 2006, with the support of the Bishop, JRS visited the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga, Western Province of Papua New Guinea to investigate any role that JRS might play to strengthen the refugee work of the local Catholic Church. JRS returned in February 2007 for further assessment. Our first information and advocacy worker arrived in the diocese on 1 October 2008. The Mercy Refugee Service (MRS), a partner of JRS, have been active in the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga since 2003. MRS is actively involved in education and pastoral services to the refugees and is supportive of the need for greater knowledge of refugee rights in the Diocese and among the refugee population. BackgroundPapua New Guinea (PNG) hosts approximately 10,000 refugees, most of whom come from the 3 Indonesian Provinces in West Papua. Most of these refugees reside in the Western Province of PNG which shares a border with West Papua, including some who were moved there after arriving in West Sepik Province, which lies to the North of Western Province. Western Province is the largest province in PNG and the least serviced in terms of government services. The entire western border of PNG forms part of the international border with Indonesia. The Australian border comes within 10 kilometres of PNG islands on the south coast. While the largest province in PNG, Western Province is very sparsely populated with approximately 106,000 persons, 3% of the total PNG population (2006). Approximately 3,000 of the West Papuan refugees agreed to reside in a relocation centre called East Awin and as a consequence were given Permissive Residency Permits, granting them conditional freedom of movement and allowing them to engage in business activities, enrol in PNG schools and tertiary institutions and access health facilities. The remaining refugees are spread throughout villages close to the Indonesian border or in different towns throughout PNG, and have not been granted the benefits given to their counterparts in East Awin. While the oldest caseload is from the 1960s, the majority of these refugees came to Papua New Guinea between 1984 and 1986. A significant number arrived in 2002 (approximately 390). Papua New Guinea acceded to the 1951 Convention and 1967 relating to the Status of Refugees on July 1986, with seven reservations. UNHCR has been operational in PNG from 1984 though it closed its office in 1996. The office was reopened in 2003 primarily to work with the PNG authorities on PNG refugee policy. UNHCR has had the mandate of only working with the refugees in East Awin and has had no access to the refugees along the border, though UNHCR has supported the birth registration of children born to these refugees. Border refugees who refused to relocate to East Awin remained in villages along the border to stay close to their own land and family connections in West Papua. Each village appears to have its own concerns and local issues, though common concerns include access to land, status resolution, and education for the children. Some villages (comprising both refugee and non-refugee populations) along the Ok Tedi river also have issues related to compensation for environmental degradation that has occurred as a result of significant mining activity in the province. The Diocese of Daru-Kiunga has a very comprehensive Diocesan plan and within this plan refugee villages are seen as part of local Catholic parishes. Thus, while refugees on the border have no access to PNG government resources or UNHCR services, they do receive assistance from the Catholic Diocese. However, it has been apparent that there is still a considerable amount of confusion amongst Diocesan workers, parishioners and refugees themselves concerning the status of refugees, their rights and their options for the future. In order to help remove some of this confusion and to strengthen the capacity of the local Catholic Church and the refugees themselves to advocate for their rights, a JRS information and advocacy worker was recruited in 2008 to work within and with the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga to help provide accurate information on refugee rights and entitlements, provide education/ awareness raising amongst the refugees of their rights and options for future decision making, and with the Bishop, accurately inform the international advocacy arm of JRS and other relevant International NGOs and church bodies on the situation of the refugees in PNG. JRS StaffWren Chadwick is JRS Australia's project officer in PNG. Trained in law, Wren is experienced in legislation reform, health policy, village development and disaster relief. She is also passionate about refugee rights. Read more about Wren here. Role descriptionThere is currently no vacancy Reports from the field |
