Legal experts say by sending the group to PNG the government has ignored its duty to ensure they are safe from persecution.

Experts in refugee law have warned that Australia cannot pass off to Papua New Guinea its responsibility to process the claims of seven West Papuan asylum seekers.

The seven West Papuans told Australian immigration officials when they landed by boat in the Torres Strait last month that they feared for their lives after taking part in a protest against Indonesian human rights abuses in West Papua.

Read the full story from The Guardian

Former Liberal MP Judi Moylan has hit out at the Abbott government over its treatment of seven West Papuan asylum seekers who arrived by boat in the Torres Strait last month.

The seven, including a woman and a 10-year-old child, told customs officials when they landed in Australia on 24 September that they feared for their lives after taking part in a protest against Indonesian human rights abuses in West Papua. But their claims for asylum were ignored and they were swiftly deported to neighbouring Papua New Guinea, where they were handed over to local immigration officials.

Moylan described the move as “extraordinary”.

“I mean, we’ve just completely trashed our commitment to the UN [refugee] convention and to the convention on human rights,” she told Guardian Australia.

Read the full story from The Guardian

Three West Papuan activists scaled the walls of the Australian consulate in Bali on October 6, during the APEC meeting on the island, to seek refuge and demand that foreigners be allowed to freely enter West Papua.

The Australian government, however, took the opportunity to reaffirm its long-standing support for Indonesia’s occupation of West Papua.

The three men, Rofinus Yanggam, Markus Jerewon and Yuvensius Goo, presented their letter to Australian Consul-General Brett Farmer in the early morning. It asked the APEC leaders in Bali, including US State Secretary John Kerry and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott “to persuade the Indonesian government to treat Papuan people better”.

Read the full story from Green Left Weekly

Six West Papuans who had sought asylum in Australia, but were secretly moved to Papua New Guinea by Australian authorities, have now been moved to a remote part of Western Province, near the Indonesian border.

The six, who were human rights activists, say they had fled Indonesia when security officials began searching for them after their involvement with the Freedom Flotilla from Australia.

They are being moved tomorrow to the East Awin camp about 50 kilometres from Kiunga.

A spokesperson for the Freedom Flotilla, Ruben Blake, told DW that the camp at East Awin is long established and the people already there are in a desperate state.

Read a transcript of the interview from Radio New Zealand International