Runaway refugee in PNG prison

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A district court in PNG has ordered Iranian refugee Loghman Sawari be moved from Port Moresby’s police cell to Bomana prison outside of the city until a decision is made on his bail application next week.

The 20-year-old, who was deported from Fiji to Papua New Guinea last week, appeared in court yesterday.

His lawyer Loani Henao unsuccessfully asked the court to grant bail so that Sawari would be free to have access to his doctor and a psychiatrist.

Over recent days Sawari has been treated at a private hospital for dehydration and mental illness.

Police prosecutors objected to the application, saying there was no evidence to prove he was in a “life or death situation” and that as a refugee he did not have any right to apply for bail.

Prosecutors also reasoned bail should not be granted as there was no guarantee he would turn up to court as required.

A decision on the bail application will be made on February 14. Sawari has been charged with giving false information in a passport application when he flew from Port Moresby to Fiji last month where he sort refuge.

However, the Fiji authorities detained the young man and swiftly put him on a back to Port Moresby.

Fiji’s Attorney-General saidSawari was deported because he had entered Fiji on a fraudulent PNG passport and had failed to apply for asylum in the appropriate manner.

David Manne, executive director of Refugee Legal in Melbourne, said that Fiji appeared to have “flagrantly violated” its obligations under the United Nations refugee convention by deporting Sawari without even hearing his claim to asylum.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has expressed concern about the treatment of Sawari, saying the agency was “profoundly concerned for his welfare”. - PNC