http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/flights-offer-to-asylum-family/2006/04/18/1145344085819.html
Flights offer to asylum family By Tom Allard April 19, 2006 THE Indonesian Government offered to buy tickets for the mother of a four-year-old refugee, Anike Wainggai, to fly to Australia and demand the return of the girl, one of 42 Papuans granted asylum last month, a Papuan leader says. However, what would have been a propaganda coup was scuppered when the child's mother fled Indonesia for Papua New Guinea and renounced comments that she wanted Anike to return, saying she had been coerced to make the statement. This account emerged yesterday as the United Nations said it would interview Anike's mother, Siti Pandera Wainggai, with a view to assessing whether she was eligible for protection under the Refugee Convention. The Department of Immigration was examining the case after requests from Indonesia, said the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer. Anike travelled to Australia on a traditional outrigger canoe with her father, Yunus, who has custody of the child. Jacob Rumbiak, the Papuan leader who took care of the refugees while their visas were being processed, said he received phone calls from a distraught Ms Wainggai and other relatives before the Papuans had been granted protection. "They said that the Indonesians wanted them to say that Yunus had kidnapped their daughter," Mr Rumbiak told the Herald. After several visits from military intelligence officers, reports appeared in the Indonesian media quoting Ms Wainggai saying how distressed she was that Anike had come to Australia without her knowledge. The reports were seized on by the Indonesian Government, but Ms Wainggai fled from her hometown of Jayapura for New Guinea in a small boat last week. A spokesman for the Indonesian Government, Desra Percaya, last night dismissed Ms Wainggai's change of heart, saying she had personally asked for help. A spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ariane Rummery, said its officers in Papua New Guinea would "assess any protection needs" of Ms Wainggai. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
