‘Give them freedom’ – PNG bishops denounce six-year refugee detention

January 5, 2019 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Jan 5, 2019 / 04:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishops of Papua New Guinea have issued a renewed plea on behalf of the nearly 500 refugees and asylum seekers being held in indefinite detention in deteriorating conditions.

“These people have been away from their families for the sixth Christmas… it was just another night of detention on Manus Island,” said Fr. Ambrose Pereira, communication secretary for the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Facing conditions of trauma, overcrowding, and lack of food, he said, “most of them survive thanks to medicines, mostly anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, antipsychotics,” and many face serious side effects from taking the medications long-term without a prescription.

In a statement to Fides News Agency on Thursday, Pereira called the refugees’ situation “abuse and neglect,” and said it causes the Papua New Guinea bishops “great suffering.”

“This is not the way to treat human beings,” he said.

Australia has had a system of “third country processing” since 2012 for asylum seekers who come to Australia by boat without a valid visa. The system transfers the asylum seekers to other countries, where they are processed based on that country’s laws.

Many of those seeking asylum in Australia come from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, and Iran, traveling by boat from Indonesia. They are typically intercepted by the Australian navy before reaching land, and are then sent to detention camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, a small Micronesian nation.

The government of Australia made an agreement with the government of Papua New Guinea in 2013, providing that migrants sent to Papua New Guinea from Australia would be settled there if they are found to be refugees. Otherwise they would be sent back to their country of origin or another country where they have legal residence.

Ahead of the Nov. 17-18 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinea government sent dozens of men who had been receiving specialized medical attention back to Manus Island, citing security needs. These men joined hundreds of other refugees and asylum seekers being held on the island.

In November, a report from Amnesty International and the Refugee Council of Australia documented serious declines in mental and physical health among the refugees in detention on Manus Island.

Three men had committed suicide, and many others had attempted suicide, the report said.

It decried the “brutal and illegal policy of offshore detention.” It pointed to a decrease in mental health resources and professionals available to the refugees and asylum seekers, as well as incidents of assault and robbery against them.

“The obvious answer to almost all health problems is to give them freedom and to reduce the damage caused by stress, trauma, overcrowding and malnutrition during their detention, as highlighted by numerous reports,” said Fr. Pereira in his statement.

“Refugees are waiting for the day they are released, and we hope that 2019 will bring good news for them.”
 

 

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Sri Lankan bishops oppose amendment that would strengthen presidency

October 15, 2020 CNA Daily News 1

CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2020 / 04:47 pm (CNA).- Sri Lanka’s bishops said Tuesday that the country’s democracy would decay if parliament passes a constitutional amendment that would strengthen the president’s power.

The bishops said the Twentieth Amendment, which would allow President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to take control of parliament, would be dangerous for the country. They instead encouraged government officials to focus on drafting a new constitution that safeguards democracy, law, and equality.

“We need to emphasize that concentration of power in an individual without checks and balances does not augur well for a Democratic, Socialist Republic,” they said in an Oct. 13 letter.

The letter was signed by the president and the secretary general of the Sri Lankan bishops’ conference, Bishop Winston Fernando of Badulla and Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Jayakody of Colombo.

Under the current constitution, adopted in 1978, presidential decisions are reviewed in court and the prime minister has the power to assign cabinet ministers who form central government. It also permits an independent commission to select officials to public institutions like the police force or the human rights commission.

If the amendment passes, the Associated Press reported, Rajapaksa would have the power to appoint judges, dissolve laws, and install or remove government ministers. The president would also be able to oversee any number of ministries giving him the power to appoint officials to public institutions.

Before parliament votes on the amendment, the Supreme Court must make a decision on whether specific aspects of the amendment will need a referendum to be approved. It is expected that members of parliament will approve the amendment, which needs a two-thirds majority to pass, the AP reported.

″A two-thirds majority of the members in the Parliament based on political parties does not necessarily manifest the true conscience of the people,” the bishops said.

“Therefore, let the entire membership of the parliament appoint an Independent Constitutional Council comprising a majority of men and women of proven integrity from the society who will take care of drafting a new constitution which ensures transparent democracy, the rule of law and the equality of all citizens.”

The Sri Lankan constitution established a unicameral parliament along with a powerful presidency. The Nineteenth Amendment, adopted in 2015, diluted the president’s powers; the proposed Twentieth Amendment would reverse the reforms of the Nineteenth.

“The Executive Presidency has been the bone of contention since it was created in 1978,” the Sri Lankan bishops reflected. “All elected presidents since 1994 vowed to abolish the Executive Presidency with powers vested in it by the 1978 Constitution and transfer power to the democratically elected Parliament, but none had the political will to do so for reasons not unknown to the people.”

The bishops said rules cannot be changed based on the inconsistencies and whims of individual political figures. They encouraged the installation of civilly responsible officials and challenged parliament to focus on rebuilding a constitution that protects and improves Sri Lanka.

“It is our view … to identify and elect or appoint suitable persons who will abide by the rules to safeguard true, justice, and the well-being of the country. It is the bounden-duty of the democratically elected Parliament to create wholesome governing structures capable of moving this country forward,” they said.

“Greater clarity is needed if the constitution is to serve the citizenry. Thus the 20th Amendment should not be proceeded with, in its entirety, and instead a new constitution needs to be the national priority at this moment.”


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