Mark Baker – It is now evident the chorus of cheers that greeted the Immigration Department's prompt and uncharacteristic decision to grant temporary residence to 42 West Papuan asylum

Michelle Grattan, Canberra and Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – John Howard says most Australians do not want West Papuans seeking refuge here.

Canberra – Indonesia's respect for human rights in its Papua province has improved and Australia shouldn't encourage the region's independence, the Australian prime minister said, despi

The search continues for a boatload of Papuan asylum seekers thought to have mistakenly landed on an island in Papua New Guinea in their quest to get to Australia.

Indonesian importers have called for a boycott of Australian goods as anger grows over Canberra's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 Papuan separatists who arrived in Cape York in

Abdul Khalik and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesia may end up breaking its own laws if it keeps trying to secure the return of 42 Papuan asylum seekers recently granted temporary visas

Sarah Stephen – On March 23, the immigration department announced that 42 of the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers who arrived in Australia on January 18 and have been held on Christmas Isl

Harold Crouch – Indonesians have reacted with outrage at the Australian decision to grant temporary protection visas to 42 of the 43 Papuans who reached Cape York in an outrigger canoe

Carmel Egan – Relying on nothing more than the word of a good friend and their faith in God, the West Papuan 43 turned their dugout canoe south and made for Australia.

Tom Hyland – It's unlikely that Alexander Downer believes what he says about the new row that has erupted between Australia and Indonesia over 42 Papuan asylum seekers.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indonesian security forces continued to hunt for students in hiding in Papua's jungles yesterday.

Greg Sheridan – Is there another boat on the way? This is the question now in Australia-Indonesia relations after the granting of temporary protection visas to 42 West Papuans.

Peter Cave – Up to 1,200 students are reported to be hiding in the hills around Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's Papua province, fearful of revenge attacks by members of the Indones

Rob Taylor and Heru Rahadi, Jakarta – Australia's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 Papuan asylum seekers is an "unfriendly" act and Indonesia must protest, a senior Indonesian MP

A US State Department report alleging torture and intimidation by Indonesian security forces against Papuan separatists may add weight to the case of 43 Papuan boat people seeking asylu

Indonesia complained that Australia's processing of asylum applications for 43 Papuans on Christmas Island was "dragging".

Patrick Walters – Alexander Downer will meet senior Indonesian officials today in a bid to calm Jakarta's concerns over Australia's handling of 43 Papuan asylum-seekers now on Christmas

Indonesia is expected to press Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for consular access to 43 Papuan asylum seekers when he visits Jakarta next week to discuss clemency for the Bali Nine a

Gillian Davy, Melbourne – A powerful video message from Herman Wainggai, spokesperson for 43 West Papuan asylum seekers incarcerated on Christmas Island, was a highlight of a Free West

Andra Jackson – The leader of the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers on Christmas Island has made a direct appeal to the Australian public for protection.

Peter Short, Perth – "The voice of West Papua must be heard, it has been silenced for 45 years", West Papua solidarity activist Ned Byrne told a crowd of 140 people who packed into Frem

Sarah Stephen – Greens Senator Kerry Nettle received a warm welcome when she finally managed to get to Christmas Island on January 28-30 to visit the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers and a

Greg Roberts – The number of people crossing illegally from the Indonesian province of West Papua into Australia may be much greater than was thought.

Indonesia has ramped up pressure on the Howard government not to grant asylum to 43 Papuan boat people, with a senior minister denying that human rights abuses are systemic in the troub

Jakarta – Indonesia on Sunday challenged Australia to prove that 43 boat people from troubled Papua province seeking asylum from Canberra are really fleeing persecution.

Tom Allard – Indonesia has stepped up its campaign for Australia to return 43 Papuan asylum seekers, with its new ambassador warning that relations will be strained if they are granted

Indonesia's new Ambassador to Canberra says relations between Australia and Indonesia will certainly be affected if Australia grants refugee status to more than 40 asylum seekers from t

Sarah Stephen – One of the passengers aboard the outrigger canoe that landed on Cape York peninsula on January 18 was a five-year-old child.

Sarah Stephen – Among the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers who were transferred to Christmas Island on January 18 are four family groups.

Australians protested around the country last week in solidarity with the 43 West Papuan refugees who have been detained by the federal government on Christmas Island.

West Papuan asylum seekers on Christmas Island have told Greens senator Kerry Nettle their families have been terrorised by Indonesian security forces since their journey to Australia.

Greg Poulgrain – Ten US members of Congress have described the arrival on Australian shores by canoe two weeks ago of 43 asylum seekers from West Papua as a flight to freedom.

Australian refugee advocates say they are alarmed by the Indonesian Government making a direct request to Prime Minister John Howard for the return of 43 Papuans.

Russell Skelton – Australia and Indonesia are headed for a diplomatic crisis over the fate of 43 West Papuan asylum seekers whose claims of persecution now appear likely to be recognise

A group of Papuan asylum seekers being held in immigration detention on Australia's remote Christmas Island is expected to meet their lawyers for the first time this weekend.

The Hon John Howard MP
Prime Minister of Australia
C/o Australian High Commission UK
Strand London WC2B 4LA

27 January 2006

Dear Prime Minister Howard,

Senator the Hon Amanda Vanstone
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
Suite MF 40 Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

25 January 2006

Andra Jackson – A Catholic bishop has warned that Indonesian authorities are "trying to get to" the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers on Christmas Island.

The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is calling on the Australian Prime Minister and Immigration Minister to release the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers detained on Christmas Island.

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta – The Indonesian government urged the group of 43 Papuans seeking asylum in Australia to return home, and pledged that there would be no punishment.

Sarah Stephen – On January 18, 43 West Papuans stepped onto Australian soil at Mapoon on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula.

M.

The Federal Government says it has asked Indonesia for official clarification of reports of a shooting in which one person was killed and two injured, in the troubled province of Papua.

Sydney – Refugee activists want the Papuan asylum seekers who landed on the north Queensland coast this week to be brought back from Christmas Island and given bridging visas.

Sydney – Refugee activists branded the Australian government cruel Friday for flying a group of 43 Indonesian asylum seekers who accused Jakarta of genocide to a remote island detention

The Australian Coalition of West Papua Support Groups in Australia call on the Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone to allow the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers to remain in Australia.

PO Box 15774, Washington, DC 20003

Prime Minister John Howard c/o Embassy of Australia to the United States 1601 Massachusetts Ave, NW Washington, DC 20036-2273

Australia is being told to expect more asylum seekers to make their way to the country from Papua.

"The Australian government must respect the rights of the forty West Papuans who have arrived in Cape York.

Dili – East Timor's government is ready to adopt "drastic measures" to reconstruct Dili, ending anarchy and reducing population pressures, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Wednesday.