1 Dec 2008

Two further Papuan asylum seekers return to Indonesia from Australia

10:47 am on 1 December 2008

Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry says two Papuans out of a group of 43 asylum seekers who fled to Australia in 2006, have returned home.

Yunus Wainggai, and his young daughter Anike, were repatriated after they travelled by boat to northern Australia led by Papuan separatist activist Herman Wainggai.

Indonesian foreign affairs ministry spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah told AFP there was no force involved in their decision to return home.

The spokesman said Mr Wainggai had been promised money and a job but they had not been realised.

Australia's 2006 decision to grant asylum to most of the group of Papuans briefly plunged relations between the two countries into turmoil, with Indonesia temporarily recalling its ambassador to Canberra.

Before the two arrived in Indonesia, Mr Wanggai's lawyer in Australia, David Manne, was reported to have admitted he had serious concerns in relation to the matter.