Sean Banville Papuan Refugees - January 19, 2006 Lyrics

Papuan asylum seekers reach Australia
A boat carrying 43 asylum seekers from Indonesia has reached an Australian beach. The group of 30 men, six women and seven children are from Indonesia's Irian Jaya province. The area is known as West Papua by most of the people who live there. The group left Indonesia last Friday in a traditional canoe fitted with a small motor. Indonesian authorities had alerted Australian immigration officials about the boat but search planes failed to spot the craft. The boat contains some of Irian Jaya's most popular independence activists. They want to tell the world their story and gain independence for their people.
The group's requests for asylum will put the spotlight on Australia. The country is already under fire for its treatment of political refugees. The Papuan asylum seekers will also test Australia's difficult relations with Indonesia. There were two banners on the boat. One read: "Save West Papua's people from genocide, intimidation and Indonesia's military and state terrorism". Another banner said: "The West Papuan people need freedom, peace, love and justice in our own homeland." The Indonesian embassy said the group's grounds for seeking asylum were "baseless".