Crossing the Border:

Abstract

Synopsis The response of the Papua New Guinea government to the refugee influx of 1984 was conditioned by the Australian administration’s approach to border management prior to Papua New Guinea independence and by the Papua New Guinea - Indonesia border agreement. This approach is one of containment. The unprecedented scale of the refugee influx in 1984 caused a policy crisis for Papua New Guinea. Efforts to encourage refugees to return home met resistance from the refugees and caused public controversy. In 1985 when West Papuan refugees arrived in Australia for the first time, the Australian government demonstrated it's continuing commitment to the policy of containment which was reflected in its refusal to support Papua New Guinea's attempts to internationalise the issue. The refugee influx afforded Papua New Guinea a legitimate opportunity to press for the cause of the problem to be examined. But it's attempts to do so were abandoned for want of international, crucially Australian, support. A massive influx of refugees should automatically set in motion an international process to examine root causes of the influx in order to bring about the necessary conditions for voluntary repatriation. The achievement of the changes in Irian Jaya necessary to resolve the conflict between West Papuan nationalists and the Indonesian state may depend on the creation of new international measures to address the whole class of frustrated claims to the right of self-determination. What is needed is an authoritative international process through which self-determination claims can be assessed and a range of forms through which the aspirations they represent can be satisfied.