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Grandmother of Papuan girl asks Australia to return her home+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)JAKARTA, April 8_(Kyodo) _ The grandmother of a 4-year-old girl who was among 42 asylum seekers from Indonesia's troubled province of Papua allowed to stay in Australia demanded on Saturday that Canberra return her granddaughter home. In a tearful conversation with the Jakarta-based private radio station Elshinta, Persila Wanggai said she had been living with her granddaughter Anike for the past two years and her son Yunus, who is planning divorce from his wife, took her to Australia without her consent. "Yunus came to my home to take Anike to go around, but he did not tell me he would take her to Australia," Wanggai told the radio station. She said Anike had lived with her in the provincial capital of Jayapura over the past two years, following a planned divorce between Yunus Wanggai and his wife Siti Pandera, who lives in the Papuan town of Manokwari. Yunus Wanggai, a fisherman, and his daughter are among 42 Papuan asylum seekers granted temporary visas to Australia last month. Persila Wanggai learned her granddaughter was in Australia after watching her on television broadcasts. In the TV broadcasts, as well as photographs taken by the international media, Yunus and Anike Wanggai are seen smiling while carrying the Morning Star flag of the separatist Free Papua Movement, popularly known as OPM. "She is only 4 years old and a man, her father, will not be able to take care of her, so I asked the Australian government to return her to Jayapura," Persila Wanggai said. Last week, Indonesia recalled its ambassador to Australia, downgrading its diplomatic ties as an expression of displeasure after Canberra granted the three-year protection visas to 42 of the 43 Papuans who landed at Cape York by boat in January. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that Australia's action infringed on Indonesia's sovereignty and that bilateral relations have entered a difficult period. The Papuans claim they fear prosecution in Indonesia, but Jakarta has repeatedly said none of them were being sought by authorities for any reason nor were they subjected to persecution. On Friday, in an apparent move to appease Indonesia, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Canberra will review the process of granting visas to asylum seekers. "Whatever comes out of that review, you can be certain that it will meet our international obligations, but it will also, as we should, pay proper regard to the importance of the relationship between Australia and Indonesia," he said. Over the past three decades, Papua has frequently been the scene of violence between separatists and government security forces that has claimed many lives. OPM rebels, who are fighting for an independent state, have kidnapped many locals and foreign nationals in an effort to gain international attention and support. Indonesia took over the western half of New Guinea Island from the Netherlands in 1963 and incorporated the territory into Indonesia after a 1969 plebiscite. Papua is home to some of the world's largest gold and copper mines and also has extensive forest reserves. Jakarta has attempted to dampen separatist sentiment by offering Papua's people a greater say in provincial-level government. It has also offered provincial authorities a larger share of local forestry, fishery, oil, gas and mining revenue. |