Transcript
DOUGLAS TENNENT: The way it was drafted, and the way people were pressured to sign it was unjust. People signed an agreement they should have never signed without proper legal advice. Also, as the lessors, they should have been the people that drafted the agreement. Unfortunately it was Rimbunan Hijau through their lawyers themselves who drafted the agreement.
JOHNNY BLADES: What sort of response did you get from Rimbunan when you tried to help these people renegotiate new terms on the agreement?
DT: We did a 25-thousand word submission. We put it to them, and then we asked Sir Rabbie Namaliu, a former PNG prime minister, to help us to talk to them to agree to renegotiate. And we had a three-hour meeting with them in May last year. However they weren't prepared to renegotiate. Hence we had to file legal claims so that the courts in Papua new Guinea could order them to come to a mediation table to make them renegotiate.
JB: Assuming that your deportation is a result of your work in this area, what happened recently to precede this move by Immigration to try and force you out of the country?
DT: Good question. And that's one of the things that we don;t know. because I just got the deportation order, which said I breached my conditions as a religious worker by becoming involved in sensitive land issues in East New Britain. 80 percent of my work is dealing with land. And land, by virtue of Melanesian society, any negotiations are sensitive. So we're all a bit confused because that's the only statement I've been given. They haven't gone into any more details than that. And I'm saying to them please specify your concerns about the work I've been doing and then I'll respond to them. But I can't get them to give me specific complaints. But my concern is that I'm getting deported for doing my job, and that's where it gets very concerning.
JB: The description of your job at the outset, was this known to Immigration?
DT: I was employed as a religious worker, as the administrator of the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese of Rabaul has huge land issues which have to be resolved, particularly giving land from former plantations back to local people. The current Archbishop, Archbishop Panfilo has a very strong passion for social justice. And so when people petitioned him (about the Pomio situation) he said well I will help you. Because I'm a lawyer, he said well Doug will do the necessary work. It still falls very much within my role as an administrator because it comes under directions from the Archbishop. So I'm just confused how I have breached the terms and conditions of my visa.
JB: There was a stay order effected on your deportation. Despite that, you were deported anyway. Supposedly, the matter is still in the court system, and there's more to be done?
DT: Well that we don't quite know. What happened was, I agreed on Sunday to accompany Immigation officials to Moresby (from East New Britain). They got very strong with me and the police were there. (He went along) on the understanding that when I got to Moresby, I would keep my phone and have active communication with the Bishop and my lawyer. When I got to Moresby, my phone was confiscated from me. I was then taken to an interview room where I was interviewed by a senior Immigration officer who said I was being deported, it was an order from the Minister. I said OK, I respect that. but I said I need to be able to have my phone and communicate with the Archbishop and my lawyer. He said I'll consult about that. He came back and said that is approved. So I felt ok about that, because I knew there was an application for a stay order... I was taken to where we stayed. I was put into one room. I had officers on either side. and this went on until 8 o'clock on Sunday night. I said, right, I need to have my phone, I need to communicate. I was told both in Kokopo and in Moresby by your boss that I will get my phone back and I can communicate with the Archbishop and my lawyer. So they texted the person. The response was, the Chief Migration Officer has said there's no communication. So I felt totally betrayed... They didn't give me my phone back until they pushed me through Immigration and Customs yesterday (Monday). And so then when I finally got my phone back I rang through to the lawyer and he said look, we've got a stay, you can't leave the country. The response was look, you've already left the country because you've passed through customs, so we cant stop you leaving the country. I felt I'd been totally misled by Immigration.