The secretary general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomons looks at the agreement on asylum seekers signed last week by the United Kingdom and Rwanda. Such a deal is a “ruthless exercise” that Australia implemented in 2013. For those who flee places like Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan, it “will be hell” like what happened in Oceania.
Caritas Cebu director Fr Socrates Saldua talks about the work done in favour of typhoon Yolanda survivors as well as post-disaster reconstruction. The islands are "the heart of the emergency," he explained. "We hope that Francis stays with us a bit longer than what is scheduled." He hopes to see the pontiff in Cebu for the International Eucharistic Congress in 2016.
Leaving for Rome, the President of the Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands speaks of the "hot" topics for the local population. "People feel cut off from the Church; we need a more flexible approach." Firm no to artificial contraception.
Australia assuages its conscience by handing over financial aid, which local Churches say is really "complicity in trafficking in human beings”. However, Papua New Guinea is not able to provide these people a decent future. Sending them home means killing them and it is impossible to move them for now. A tragedy that involves us all.
This is the opinion of the General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, Fr Victor Roche SVD, who recently visited the centre for mostly Asian asylum seekers set up by Australia and Papua New Guinea on Manus Island.
Australian immigration policies are becoming increasingly restrictive, and the people of Papua New Guinea and refugees turned away by Canberra are paying the price. The two governments should make an effort and find a solution real to the issue as soon as possible.
The Iowara camp hosts refugees from West Papua, who fled strife in the Indonesian province in the 1990s. After nearly 30 years, they are still without citizenship or freedom of movement, ostensibly abandoned by those who were supposed to care for them. On the ground, "The Catholic Church is now virtually left alone to cater at least for health and education". What follows is the story of a Verbite priest, involved for decades in trying to help the refugees' situation.
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