The Asylum seeker agreement reached by Prime Ministersof Australia and Papua New Guineahas been met with mass opposition, includingthe Catholic Church.
The church sees it as a matter of grave concern, primarily on humanitarian grounds andthe fact thaPNG is being used to solve an Australian problem.
Criticism aboutthe Asylum Seeker agreement signed on Friday in Beisbane is coming in from all corners of society including Australia.
A rally was staged in Sydney within a 24 hour notice.
On social networks like face book post after postosome wrote: whatthe hell wasthe Prime minister thinking.
One Australian wrote: The idea is to give refugees a very unpalatable alternativePNG. How insulting.
Questions aboutthe social, economic and security impacts were asked. Many ridiculedthe Prime Ministersresponse on Friday.
They said Australia too has a huge land mass and small population.
Away fromthe social networks,the Catholic Church see’sthe agreement as inhumane and one rushed for political interest.
They question “How can we accommodate refugees in PNG when we cannot accommodate our own people.
Althoughthe opposition has shrunk in numbers Kundiawa Gembogl MP Tobias Kulang still stands strong. He asked whythe government was so secretive aboutthe agreement.
He said it was insulting that Papua New Guineas had to hear aboutthe agreement from foreign media.
He saidthe decision was a major government policy decision and should have sought wide ranging consultation before approval.
He saidthe refugee issue is not black and white, we have to be conscious ofthe backgrounds ofthe refugeesthey could be a threat to national security.
He sain PNG is a sovereign state;the asylum seeker issue is a very sensitive issuePNG must be allowed time and space to make conscious decisions that will have far reaching implications.
He said his government will work closely withthe Australian Government to ensure MAXIMUM opportunities for local businesses, contractors, and suppliers, to participate inthe construction, and servicing, ofthe new Manus Centre, and any additional centres that are built.
Prime Minister O’Neill is currently still in Australia, he is said to return today where he will addressthPNG Media onthe recent arrangements.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=dXuJkgY3iO0%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
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