Papua New Guinea’s refugee track record and its obligations under the 2013 Regional Resettlement Arrangement with Australia

This paper examines Papua New Guinea\u27s track record in assessing and resettling asylum seekers, its current obligations under the 2013 Regional Resettlement Arrangement, and the sustainability of this arrangement. Introduction In the lead-up to the Australian Federal Election in September 2013, public attention focused dramatically on Papua New Guinea (PNG) in terms of the joint PNG–Australia Regional Resettlement Arrangement, the subject of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on 6 August 2013. In short, Australia would transfer asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat after 19 July 2013 to PNG where their claim for refugee status would be assessed, under PNG law, and those found to be refugees would be resettled in PNG ‘and in any other participating regional, including Pacific Island, states’. (Nauru is the only other current participating regional state, with Cambodia considering resettlement of asylum seekers at the time of publication.) While the Migration Legislation Amendment (Regional Processing and Other Measures) Act 2012 provided for assessment of asylum seekers by PNG, it was the August 2013 Regional Resettlement Arrangement (mentioned as the 2013 Arrangement) that provided for resettlement in PNG, of asylum seekers determined to be refugees. In accordance with the 2013 Arrangement, the full cost of implementing the arrangement in PNG, that is, transfer, assessment, and resettlement, would be met by Australia. PNG has a track record related to the assessment and resettlement of asylum seekers. The discussion paper begins with a brief outline of PNG policy responses to West Papuan asylum seekers from neighbouring Indonesian Papua. It focuses on the permissive residence system (part of a PNG ‘Limited Integration’ policy) offered to West Papuan refugees living at the former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resettlement site at East Awin in Western Province since 1997. Limitations of the permissive residence permit, particularly issues related to eligibility and permit renewal, illustrate challenges faced by the PNG government and bureaucracy to design and administer a visa system. PNG’s track record of assessing and resettling West Papuan asylum seekers since 1984 is looked at against the terms of the 2013 Arrangement, which requires PNG to determine the refugee status of asylum seekers transferred by Australia to the offshore processing centre on Manus Island, review negative determinations, and resettle in PNG those determined to be refugees. The second section considers PNG’s obligations under the terms of the 2013 Arrangement. In relation to status determination, an efficient and procedurally fair determination process requires legislation i.e., domestic refugee law, and an effective immigration bureaucracy. It can be argued that neither of these elements were present at the time of the 2013 Arrangement. However, at the time of publication of this paper in mid-2014, some status determinations and a review process had been announced. In relation to resettlement, ongoing disagreement by the PNG government over the terms of resettlement (which refugees are to be resettled, how many refugees will be resettled) threatens to undermine the terms of the 2013 Arrangement. Australia has underwritten the costs of implementing resettlement under the Arrangement, although the details are not explicit. Nor are details available about any social planning being undertaken for the resettlement of refugees. The author takes up UNHCR’s charge of a ‘xenophobic phenomenon’ in relation to the reception of non-Melanesian refugees in PNG, and offers some context. It is argued that social planning that works towards minimising inter-community tension is critical to resettlement. The 2013 Arrangement is subject to annual review by the Australian–PNG Ministerial Forum. The sustainability of the Arrangement in terms of legal challenges and security issues is the subject of the third section. Responding to the announcement of the first status determination decisions at the time of publication of this paper, the conclusion summarises some of the major issues related to PNG’s responsibilities under the Arrangement: procedurally fair assessment and review processes, and resettlement planning

'Desecration' in a Place of Refuge

In this paper I explore two related questions: how does a particular site come to be perceived as sacred, and what is the impact of the destruction of something sacred when it occurs in a place of ‘refuge’? This study is situated on the island of New Guinea, in the experiences of West Papuan people from the Indonesian Province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), living as refugees across the international border in Papua New Guinea. The inquiry is grounded in two instances involving a refugee population in a place of refuge. The first instance involves the burning of a church built by a refugee congregation, and the second involves the large-scale occupation by a refugee population of another people’s land. A doubling effect is intended here. Forced migration can simultaneously render refugees vulnerable to the violence of others, and in the process of resettlement, refugees may have no real choice but to engage in actions that violate the land of others

Permissive Residents: West Papuan refugees living in Papua New Guinea

This book offers another frame through which to view the event of the outrigger landing of 43 West Papuans in Australia in 2006. West Papuans have crossed boundaries to seek asylum since 1962, usually eastward into Papua New Guinea (PNG), and occasionally southward to Australia. Between 1984–86, around 11,000 people crossed into PNG seeking asylum. After the Government of PNG acceded to the United Nations Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, West Papuans were relocated from informal camps on the international border to a single inland location called East Awin. This volume provides an ethnography of that settlement based on the author’s fieldwork carried out in 1998–99

An afferent explanation for sexual dimorphism in the aortic baroreflex of rat

Sex differences in baroreflex (BRx) function are well documented. Hormones likely contribute to this dimorphism, but many functional aspects remain unresolved. Our lab has been investigating a subset of vagal sensory neurons that constitute nearly 50% of the total population of myelinated aortic baroreceptors (BR) in female rats but less than 2% in male rats. Termed “Ah,” this unique phenotype has many of the nonoverlapping electrophysiological properties and chemical sensitivities of both myelinated A-type and unmyelinated C-type BR afferents. In this study, we utilize three distinct experimental protocols to determine if Ah-type barosensory afferents underlie, at least in part, the sex-related differences in BRx function. Electron microscopy of the aortic depressor nerve (ADN) revealed that female rats have less myelin (P < 0.03) and a smaller fiber cross-sectional area (P < 0.05) per BR fiber than male rats. Electrical stimulation of the ADN evoked compound action potentials and nerve conduction profiles that were markedly different (P < 0.01, n = 7 females and n = 9 males). Selective activation of ADN myelinated fibers evoked a BRx-mediated depressor response that was 3–7 times greater in female (n = 16) than in male (n = 17) rats. Interestingly, the most striking hemodynamic difference was functionally dependent upon the rate of myelinated barosensory fiber activation. Only 5–10 Hz of stimulation evoked a rapid, 20- to 30-mmHg reduction in arterial pressure of female rats, whereas rates of 50 Hz or higher were required to elicit a comparable depressor response from male rats. Collectively, our experimental results are suggestive of an alternative myelinated baroreceptor afferent pathway in females that may account for, at least in part, the noted sex-related differences in autonomic control of cardiovascular function

Long term costs and effects of reducing the number of twin pregnancies in IVF by single embryo transfer: the TwinSing study

Contains fulltext : 87274.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Pregnancies induced by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) often result in twin gestations, which are associated with both maternal and perinatal complications. An effective way to reduce the number of IVF twin pregnancies is to decrease the number of embryos transferred from two to one. The interpretation of current studies is limited because they used live birth as outcome measure and because they applied limited time horizons. So far, research on long-term outcomes of IVF twins and singletons is scarce and inconclusive. The objective of this study is to investigate the short (1-year) and long-term (5 and 18-year) costs and health outcomes of IVF singleton and twin children and to consider these in estimating the cost-effectiveness of single embryo transfer compared with double embryo transfer, from a societal and a healthcare perspective. METHODS/DESIGN: A multi-centre cohort study will be performed, in which IVF singletons and IVF twin children born between 2003 and 2005 of whom parents received IVF treatment in one of the five participating Dutch IVF centres, will be compared. Data collection will focus on children at risk of health problems and children in whom health problems actually occurred. First year of life data will be collected in approximately 1,278 children (619 singletons and 659 twin children). Data up to the fifth year of life will be collected in approximately 488 children (200 singletons and 288 twin children). Outcome measures are health status, health-related quality of life and costs. Data will be obtained from hospital information systems, a parent questionnaire and existing registries. Furthermore, a prognostic model will be developed that reflects the short and long-term costs and health outcomes of IVF singleton and twin children. This model will be linked to a Markov model of the short-term cost-effectiveness of single embryo transfer strategies versus double embryo transfer strategies to enable the calculation of the long-term cost-effectiveness. DISCUSSION: This is, to our knowledge, the first study that investigates the long-term costs and health outcomes of IVF singleton and twin children and the long-term cost-effectiveness of single embryo transfer strategies versus double embryo transfer strategies

Permissive Residents: West Papuan refugees living in Papua New Guinea

This book offers another frame through which to view the event of the outrigger landing of 43 West Papuans in Australia in 2006. West Papuans have crossed boundaries to seek asylum since 1962, usually eastward into Papua New Guinea (PNG), and occasionally southward to Australia. Between 1984–86, around 11,000 people crossed into PNG seeking asylum. After the Government of PNG acceded to the United Nations Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, West Papuans were relocated from informal camps on the international border to a single inland location called East Awin. This volume provides an ethnography of that settlement based on the author’s fieldwork carried out in 1998–99

'Desecration' in a Place of Refuge

In this paper I explore two related questions: how does a particular site come to be perceived as sacred, and what is the impact of the destruction of something sacred when it occurs in a place of ‘refuge’? This study is situated on the island of New Guinea, in the experiences of West Papuan people from the Indonesian Province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), living as refugees across the international border in Papua New Guinea. The inquiry is grounded in two instances involving a refugee population in a place of refuge. The first instance involves the burning of a church built by a refugee congregation, and the second involves the large-scale occupation by a refugee population of another people’s land. A doubling effect is intended here. Forced migration can simultaneously render refugees vulnerable to the violence of others, and in the process of resettlement, refugees may have no real choice but to engage in actions that violate the land of others

Permissive Residents: West Papuan refugees living in Papua New Guinea

This book offers another frame through which to view the event of the outrigger landing of 43 West Papuans in Australia in 2006. West Papuans have crossed boundaries to seek asylum since 1962, usually eastward into Papua New Guinea (PNG), and occasionally southward to Australia. Between 1984–86, around 11,000 people crossed into PNG seeking asylum. After the Government of PNG acceded to the United Nations Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, West Papuans were relocated from informal camps on the international border to a single inland location called East Awin. This volume provides an ethnography of that settlement based on the author’s fieldwork carried out in 1998–99