P.N.G. confirms refugee deaths

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 8

P.N.G. confirms refugee deaths

NZPA-AAP Port Moresby Senior Government officials yesterday confirmed the starvation-re-lated deaths of 54 Irian Jayan refugees as the Papua New Guinea Red Cross called on Australian and New Zealand aid agencies for high protein food. The Red Cross and the United Nations refugee body, the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees, is preparing to send officers to Western Province where thousands of border-crossers were reported suffering from malnutrition. “We were caught unaware that there was such a problem,” said the Secre-tary-General of Red Cross, Mr Jean Jelke, yesterday. “The reports we were getting indicated they were better off than the people in West Sepik,” he said. It has since been learnt that the Government has given food but twice to the Western Province people, said Mr Jelke. The Provincial Affairs Department, whose officers are responsible for patrolling the area where 5000 refugees are camped, yesterday confirmed the deaths. A senior official said, “It should not he taken out of context. The' people themselves accepted it and did not see anything strange about it. “Also it could be that our officers in the field were a little slow in reporting it,” the official said.