RSS Feed
August 6th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Updated
Immigration Minister Tony Burke says he cannot see a problem with the Federal Government’s plan to build a processing centre next to a primary school on Manus Island.
Asylum seekers are currently being held in a temporary centre while a permanent facility is built next to a primary school in the provincial capital Lorengau.
Residents and the school’s board are worried about the students’ safety, particularly in the wake of violent riots at Nauru’s processing centre last month.
But the Mr Burke, who has made his second trip to Port Moresby in just over a week, says he does not see a problem.
“The co-location with a school, so long as everything’s managed properly, isn’t of itself a problem, but you need to make sure everything’s managed properly,” he said.
The co-location with a school, so long as everything’s managed properly, isn’t of itself a problem, but you need to make sure everything’s managed properly.
The Immigration Department says construction of the permanent facility should be completed by the end of January.
The PNG government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Australia formalising the deal to send all asylum seekers to Manus Island.
Mr Burke watched as PNG’s foreign minister Rimbink Pato signed the document late this afternoon in Port Morseby.
He says there now can be no doubt about the desire of both countries to tackle people smuggling.
Solomon Islands not interested in Pacific Solution
Meanwhile, Solomon Islands prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says he is not interested in being part of the Federal Government’s Pacific Solution.
He says it is clear the Solomons are not a destination for asylum seekers.
“The Prime Minister sent the message, basically whether or not Solomon Islands is prepared to be part of the Pacific Solution and we basically said that no, it’s a proposal that cannot be considered at this point in time,” Mr Lilo told the ABC.
He says land ownership issues and the remaining strong feelings related to the years of ethnic tension prior to 2003 also influenced his decision.
Topics:
immigration,
community-and-society,
refugees,
papua-new-guinea,
solomon-islands,
australia
First posted
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-06/tony-burke-defends-building-processing-centre-next-to-school/4869052
Views: 0
Posted in 
