Visa issues inflame PNG citizens against new arrivals

Updated May 21, 2009 15:00:33

One of Papua New Guinea's most senior church figures says there needs to be a review of how visas are granted to people looking to invest in the country. The Catholic Archbishop of Mount Hagen, Dr Douglas Young, made the observation after the recent attacks against Asian businesses around the country. But Dr Young told Michael Cavanagh he also feels a much talked about inquiry into the violence will not provide any solution.

Presenter: Michael Cavanagh
Speaker: Dr Douglas Young, Catholic Archbishop of PNG's Mount Hagen

DR DOUGLAS YOUNG: They eventually have to come to the Department of Foreign Affairs and the whole way in which visas are being issued to Asians and especially Chinese. This has been talked about for so long and nothing seems to be done. I mean, it is so obvious sometimes when you see somebody of Asian origin standing behind the counter selling Coca-Cola and in many cases they have difficulty with English. Everybody who goes there to buy something asks the same question, "How does this happen? It should not be happening."

MICHAEL CAVANAGH: Are you saying, though, that there should be possibly the whole question of migration to PNG from the Asian areas looked at, given that it also brings in substantial investment?

DR YOUNG: That's a sub-category of the whole thing. The whole way in which the Foreign Affairs Department, especially immigration, issuing of visas and of passports, the whole way it is being managed, needs investigation. It's not just visas from China or from Asia, it's visas from elsewhere too. It's not only people coming in, it's people trying to get out. The length of time it takes for some people to get passports compared to apparently very short times for other people just raises all kinds of questions about how it's being managed. And, of course, people are afraid to mention this and I'm afraid to mention it because we can get a backlash. We fear that they may be penalised and our people trying to get passports, if we make too much noise about it, we fear that we may be penalised, but something has to be done. The problems surrounding people entering and leaving Papua New Guinea and the right documentation, that's been a problem for years.

MICHAEL CAVANAGH: Is the government neglecting its own people in its eagerness to attract that investment from overseas?

DR YOUNG: That seems to be the case. There are a lot of questions about how it is that some people from some countries seem to get in so easily and get moving into businesses and even mines that other investors, that, you know, have a long track record in Papua New Guinea, they don't seem to get the same breaks and the obvious issue of people in PNG who would like to run certain businesses but feel that they're shut out. I've heard even the long-term Asian businesses, they also complain that they try to obey the law, they try to pay their taxes, they try to do things by the book but they complain that other people come in and set up companies and don't seem to follow the book and even put them out of business, the long-term Asian businesses out of business. So there's certainly a lot to look into and a lot that needs an answer to.