Refugees previously held on Manus Island, now in Port Moresby, in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\nA letter from the service providers to PNG\u2019s Chief Immigration Officer, Stanis Hulahau, threatens to stop all accommodation, transport, security, food vouchers and immigration advice to the men from November 23 if the PNG government does not pay outstanding invoices.<\/p>\n
The letter says the providers have \u201cgrave concerns regarding the ongoing viability\u201d of the country\u2019s refugee humanitarian program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe regret the necessity of such action,\u201d says the letter, which was dated last week but only made public on Thursday, \u201cbut the many assurances we have received of payment being imminent has not yielded any result.\u201d<\/p>\n
The threat comes amid a dispute between Australia\u2019s Home Affairs Department and the PNG government over who is responsible for funding the ongoing needs of the former Manus Island refugees.<\/p>\n
The amount paid by Australia has never previously been disclosed, but sources who have knowledge of the details but are not authorised to speak publicly confirmed it was $80 million.<\/p>\n
The money is part of hundreds of millions of dollars questionably distributed as part of Australia\u2019s offshore detention program, and the revelation will put more pressure on the Albanese government as it digests a scathing secret report by ex-spy chief Dennis Richardson into the Home Affairs Department\u2019s large-scale mishandling of contracts.<\/p>\n
This masthead has already reported extensively on allegations of corruption in the offshore processing system, including that offshore processing contractor Paladin paid millions of dollars to a businessman who was associated with allegedly corrupt PNG officials as well as the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Home Affairs Department said the Australian taxpayers\u2019 money had been paid out in full by June 2022 to deal with what it called the \u201cresidual caseload\u201d of refugees after the decade-long regional resettlement arrangement with Papua New Guinea formally ended on December 31, 2021.<\/p>\n
There are people here who are totally out of their mind, mental issues, and if they kick them out from the accommodation I don\u2019t know where they will end up.<\/p>\n
The amount, which was part of a confidential agreement between the two countries, was enough to manage all the individuals in PNG to \u201cself-sufficiency\u201d and the \u201carrangement does not envisage ongoing funding\u201d, the Home Affairs statement said.<\/p>\n
The arrangement, made under former home affairs minister Karen Andrews, allowed \u201cflexible budget management by PNG\u201d, the statement said.<\/p>\n
It was sufficient to settle people who wanted to live permanently in PNG or send others to third countries, it said.<\/p>\n
A refugee who spent much of the past decade on Manus Island and is now living in Port Moresby said, \u201cI think things will get much worse\u201d if the service providers made good on their threats.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is getting very stressful in here,\u201d said the man, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely about his situation. \u201cSome people are not feeling well. There are people here who are totally out of their mind, mental issues, and if they kick them out from the accommodation I don\u2019t know where they will end up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about Australia\u2019s role he said: \u201cI like Liberal because they\u2019re not hypocrites \u2013 we know they hate us and do not want to help us. Labor is full of hypocrites. They say \u2018we\u2019re humanitarian\u2019, but it\u2019s been a year and we\u2019ve got almost nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
PNG official Hulahau has previously said the money from Australia had run out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Australia wants the refugees to continue to remain in Papua New Guinea, then they have to fund the program, or we will shut the program and send the refugees back to Australia to manage,\u201d he told The Guardian<\/em> last month.<\/p>\nHe has also previously denied there was any corruption in the government program. Hulahau was approached for comment about the latest threat from the service providers.<\/p>\n
The Home Affairs statement said Australian and PNG officials were in discussions about the issue.<\/p>\n
The hospital alone claims to be owed almost $40 million, and the seven service providers say in their letter they had not been paid since November 2022, only months after Australia says the final tranche of the funds was paid.<\/p>\n
Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said it was Labor\u2019s responsibility to fix the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cHome Affairs Minister Clare O\u2019Neil must act to provide the funds needed to support Australia\u2019s refugees, even if she has to fund the service providers directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
A whistleblower within the PNG Immigration and Citizenship Services Authority recently claimed the residual program, the PNG Humanitarian Program, had been corrupted, prompting the country\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and Immigration Minister, John Rosso, to order an audit of the authority\u2019s spending.<\/p>\n
Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in National<\/h2>\nFrom our partners<\/h3>\n
Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. The Home Affairs…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Where did all the money go? Tens of millions for PNG refugees disappear in months - bluemull<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where did all the money go? Tens of millions for PNG refugees disappear in months - bluemull\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. The Home Affairs…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"bluemull\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-16T14:44:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_1.029%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_140%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/2c79fb8058fe7ec3a26870995961be5273da0ed6\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/\",\"name\":\"Where did all the money go? Tens of millions for PNG refugees disappear in months - bluemull\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-16T14:44:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-16T14:44:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abc9aeefdadf991087d66599cfc40c8d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"World News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/category\/world-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Where did all the money go? Tens of millions for PNG refugees disappear in months\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/\",\"name\":\"bluemull\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abc9aeefdadf991087d66599cfc40c8d\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/51ffec31290e6ad73871db09a74770ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/51ffec31290e6ad73871db09a74770ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where did all the money go? Tens of millions for PNG refugees disappear in months - bluemull","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where did all the money go? Tens of millions for PNG refugees disappear in months - bluemull","og_description":"Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. The Home Affairs…","og_url":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/","og_site_name":"bluemull","article_published_time":"2023-11-16T14:44:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_1.029%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_140%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/2c79fb8058fe7ec3a26870995961be5273da0ed6"}],"author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/","url":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/","name":"Where did all the money go? Tens of millions for PNG refugees disappear in months - bluemull","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-11-16T14:44:37+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-16T14:44:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abc9aeefdadf991087d66599cfc40c8d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/where-did-all-the-money-go-tens-of-millions-for-png-refugees-disappear-in-months\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"World News","item":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/category\/world-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Where did all the money go? Tens of millions for PNG refugees disappear in months"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/","name":"bluemull","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abc9aeefdadf991087d66599cfc40c8d","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/51ffec31290e6ad73871db09a74770ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/51ffec31290e6ad73871db09a74770ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133965"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133966,"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133965\/revisions\/133966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}