Greater collaboration is needed to safeguard the Oceania People.

18^th December, Port Moresby: The Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (CBC PNG SI), Migrants and Refugees Desk Director Mr. Jason Siwat returned from a 3-day ( 9^th to 11^th December) meeting with the Migrants and Refugees Oceania Network meeting in Sydney, Australia recently.

This 3-day event involved members of the civil society, the Catholic church, non-governmental organizations in the migrants and refugees’ space in the Pacific and Oceania region, and included partners from Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand; the Migrants and Refugees Desk of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands; the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific; the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference; the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; the International Catholic Migration Commission; the Vincentian Refugee Network; the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans; Jesuit Refugee Service Australia; and the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.

Speaking to the attendees, Bishop Anthony Randazza, the President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania, called for a stronger collaboration with respective governments, regional organizations, and civil society to protect people’s livelihoods and their homelands in the Oceania region.

Participants of the Migrants and Refugees Oceania Network ( MRON) recently. Mr. Jason Siwat, the Migrants and Refugees Desk Director at the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, is second from far left.                   Image Provided. 

In his key message to the gathering on Wednesday 10^th of December, Bishop Randazzo said that frameworks that are combined with pastoral strategies are needed in a region where whole communities are at risk.

Mr. Jason Siwat shared some of the highlights of the three-day event by presenting that he mainly focused on the challenges faced by refugees and asylum seekers in PNG, including the situation of the West Papuans. 

"We also discussed the impacts of climate change, the seasonal workers scheme, and other migrants and refugees in the region. We discussed and finalized a draft TOR, which will go to FCBCO for approval. We also discussed the financing and resourcing of the network," continued Mr. Siwat.

"There is clear interest by everyone to grow this network in recognition of what it can do to support the Federation of the  Catholic Bishops Conference of Oceania (CBCO) and the scattered dioceses of Oceania in pastoral care and support for displaced people and refugees. There was also great support from the FCBCO president and secretary, who attended the meeting. Bishop Randazzo said policy frameworks, combined with pastoral strategies, are needed in a region where whole communities are at risk," concluded Mr. Siwat.

“Migration and displacement touch every corner of our region and the lives of countless families.  The Migrants and Refugees Oceania Network, therefore, represents not only a practical response but a profoundly pastoral one.  It is one of the ways we humbly seek to be instruments of solidarity," said Bishop Randazzo.

Bishop Randazzo mentioned three major areas of concern: people displaced or affected by climate change; seasonal workers; and the plight of West Papua refugees and others seeking sanctuary in Oceania.

The Migrants and Refugees Oceania Network ( MRON)  was officially announced in May last year in Rome with leaders from the four episcopal conferences of Oceania, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, the Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, and the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.

The main initiative of the network is to provide unified support, advocacy, and services for migrants, refugees, and climate-displaced people across the Pacific region, addressing unique challenges like climate change impacts and labour mobility, and is supported by the ACBC, international groups like the International Catholic Migration Commission, and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

“The work ahead of us focuses on three major areas of concern: people displaced or affected by climate change; seasonal workers; and the plight of West Papua refugees and others seeking sanctuary in Oceania,” Bishop Randazzo said.