West Papuan refugees offered PNG citizenship after 50 years
West Papuans on Manus Island Source: SBS/Stefan Armbruster
The very first asylum seekers on Manus Island, PNG are not those from the MV Tampa. They were West Papuans who fled what was then called Dutch New Guinea in the 1960's when Indonesian forces invaded. Manus Island and the rest of PNG was under an Australian colonial administration. But when PNG gained political independence in 1975, Australia left the colony without settling the citizenship status of the West Papuan refugees on Manus. After 50 years, Peter O'Neill's government has now offered them PNG citizenships as Australia prepares to tear down it's detention centre on Manus.
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