CHURCH leaders in Papua New Guinea say they are seeking urgent talks with both Australian and PNG authorities in order to gain access to the asylum seeker detention camp on Manus Island. ABC Radio reports the churches say they want to provide counselling and reconciliation services for those affected by the violence. Interviewer: Richard Ewart Speaker: Father Victor Roache, General Secretary, PNG Catholic Bishops Conference ROACHE: As a church we are not happy that the situation has led to the death and injury of so many people, and also not good that it is going to affect many people in the community outside and asylum seekers inside and all the institutions that are connected with it. As has been our statement right from the beginning, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands has always been with this view that the processing of the asylum seekers who are coming to Australia should be done in the shores of Australia and not in any other country. Right from the beginning we were against it and we are against it. EWART: So in your view at the moment the centre should remain open but with the proviso that the management of that centre is improved? ROACHE: Thats right, very much improved, and whatever has happened it is good that the government or the authorities explain to the public clearly what went wrong and who are the cause and then eventually (inaudible) reconciliation (inaudible) or people take the proper legal action and peace restored in the asylum centre. EWART: But in the meantime whilst investigations continue to try and establish what caused what effectively was a riot in the Manus centre, certainly on the second night, on Monday night this week, how great are your fears within the Catholic Bishops Conference that what could be happening here is the potential for a wider conflict between asylum seekers who have such an uncertain future and the local community who seem to increasingly resent the presence of those asylum seekers? ROACHE: It is very clear now that asylum seekers are not happy at all to be at the centre, and now it is also perhaps obvious, Im not very sure, I think the local community is also not happy with them. So both the governments should come together and find an amicable solution, and as we have always maintained that if it is possible it has to be onshore processing. And it has to reduce this kind of tension at the asylum centre. EWART: But the Australian government is sticking to its guns, it says it wont be changing its policy on offshore processing and the deal has been done with the Papua New Guinea government, so it would appear that the Manus centre is there for the foreseeable future. So what needs to happen immediately to address your concerns do you believe? ROACHE: We also requested that the churches be allowed to go into the centre and give some counselling to the people who are affected, and we were not given the opportunity, we were not allowed to go in. And I think it is one church that had an access to go, which means it has obviously failed. So we are calling on both the governments that the churches, especially I think there are two, three mainline churches in Manus at this time, including the Catholic Church, which is the majority there, that a priest or a pastor of a church or some counsellor should be allowed to go in and help these people who are affected, or maybe a committee setup so that these reconciliation can take place that the local community and the refugees can live in peace. EWART: Some would argue certainly opponents of the continued existence of the processing centre that what is happening at the moment is officially those behind the centre dont want others to know whats really going on inside. And plainly if members of the Catholic Bishops Conference, if local clergy were allowed to go in and act as counsellors they would get that information and it might possibly change your organisations stance? ROACHE: Yes and we are asking for the human rights to be respected, theres so much mental and psychological pains theyre going through now, so it will be fair that theyre allowed to have some kind of access that they will be able to share and be counselled. So this is what we are requesting, especially at this time. Of course certain realities might come out but I think it is to respect human rights and they should have access to people who can counsel them. EWART: Will you be putting that request direct to the government in Port Moresby, to the government in Canberra or both? ROACHE: Actually the two bishops, Archbishop of the Catholic Church of Port Moresby and Bishop Peter Ramsden of the Anglican Church and the CBC office of Port Moresby, we have requested through email for an interview or a meeting with the High Commissioner of Australia here in Moresby, and also the Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea. And so we have asked them, the churches and the Council of Churches and discussed with them the possibilities of what can be done in order to defuse the situation in Manus.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 01:42:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015