Deputy Chief Migration Officer

​700 Manus refugees to relocate

Deputy Chief Migration Officer, Esther Gaegaming, said the Regional Processing Centre is holding men from 20 different countries.

Gaegaming said 700 men have been granted refugee status.

“The refugees have been provided resettlement in the country, under the agreement with the Government of Australia; of course there are some of them who do not want to settle.

“Non-refugees we will have to return them (to their home country),” Gaegaming said.      

West Papuans seek citizenship

Deputy Chief Migration Officer Esther Gaegaming says upon instructions from the Government a team from Migration visited the East Arwin camp in Western Province and registered more than 2,700 West Papuans.

She says most West Papuans are free from the work permit requirements and will not be paying the K10,000 fee for a citizenship application.

Gaegaming says a program to register all West Papuan refugees will be rolled out next year.

The Migration team will visit provinces like West Sepik, Madang and places where refugees settled over time.