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Papuan refugees want to return Indonesia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-11 16:42

JAKARTA -- Some of the 43 refugees who have been granted asylum by Australia wanted to return their home in the Papua province in the easternmost of Indonesia, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said on Monday.

Wirajuda told a joint press conference after meeting with his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith that the return would be good for the relationship of Indonesia two countries and he would help the refugees return to their home.

"Several of 43 Papuan refugees having asylum in Australia have sought possibility to return home," he said.

"This surely indicates an improved situation in Papua in term of security and economic development," said Wirajuda.

The minister added that recently more Papuan refugees wanted to return home.

"Many Papuans living overseas wanted to come home, including 700 Papuans in Papua New Guinea," he said.

Australia granted asylum to the 43 refugees who supported independence and who fled to the country by canoes in 2006.

The Indonesian government already provided $1.9 billion for Papua province last year and $2.3 billion this year, Indonesian state spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said.