Minister for Foreign Affairs Rimbink Pato

In a statement today, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Rimbink Pato, said the arrangement will be ready once all administrative arrangements are finalized.

He said the delay in the legislative amendments certified at the end of 2016 has been completed and will now enable administrative steps to move forward.

“Dual Citizenship is a new concept for Papua New Guineans and creates great opportunities for our people at home and around the world.

During the 71st United Nations General Assembly, PNG along with other countries asked for a reform of the UN system given the change in geo-politics.

“Europe is no longer the Europe it was, the Pacific is no longer the same, and Africa has taken a new stage globally,” said Pato.

“So we need to have fair representation in issues that affect the global community.”

Pato said the call is not based on the failure of the current system, as there has been a lot of success in the past.

However, there are many more nations making strides in terms of development.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Rimbink Pato, said this when announcing the removal of the ban on visa-on-arrival for Australian passport holders.

“We are working through those issues on visa’s for Papua New Guinea citizens, and the Prime Minister has discussed this, I’ve also discussed this with the Australian Foreign Minister as well as the New Zealand foreign minister, so ill be following on those discussions in the meetings in early October as well,” Pato said.

This follows the attendance of the PNG delegation led by Foreign Affairs Minister, Rimbink Pato, to the United Nations General Assembly meeting where several Pacific Island nations raised the West Papua issue.

Minister Pato responded, during a media conference today, saying that PNG’s position has been clear as announced during various regional meetings.

“We have a very strong relationship with government and people of Indonesia, we have a whole range of agreements and treaties that govern our relationship,” said Pato.

Minister Pato and the Chief Migration Officer, Mataio Rabura, are also challenging an application filed by the transferees’ lawyer, Ben Lomai, seeking summary judgment.

The transferees are seeking summary judgment from the Supreme Court that also covers compensation their illegal detainment, following the five-man Supreme Court bench ruling on April 26.

The hearing of the two applications, filed by the State, is set for Oct 27 before a three-judge bench.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Rimbink Pato highlighted these issues at the “2016 Our Ocean” conference in Washington DC, USA.

Pato thanked  the US Government for convening the Conference as the issues discussed under the various sub themes resonates well with efforts that the Small Island States are undertaking in the context of SDG 14, particularly to forge alliance with like-minded states with a view to work together to ensure sustainable use of the ocean resources.