Andra Jackson – A Papuan asylum seeker whose visa refusal has been overturned says he believes the refusal was made on political grounds to appease Indonesia.
"It was like an international bargain," said David Wainggai, 28, the only one of 43 Papuan asylum seekers not granted a temporary protection visa in March.
Speaking from the Christmas Island detention centre where he has been held since January 19, he said he was happy with the Refugee Review Tribunal's decision overturning the Immigration Department's refusal to grant him protection.
"Everyone has congratulated me. The news has spread very fast in this place. Even the hospital knows," he said.
Mr Wainggai is confident he will get a visa, "even if she (Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone) refuses it, the minister has to send the case back to the RRT and the RRT will just say the same thing again.
"I can be patient for this last decision," he said. He hoped to come to Melbourne, where 10 members of his family live. Senator Vanstone will study the the tribunal's decision.
Mr Wainggai said his claim for protection was as strong as the other 42 , the only difference was that "maybe they (Immigration) thought I can have a chance to live in Japan, but there was no chance without a valid passport.
"When I heard my visa application was rejected, I was very afraid. I thought they were bringing me back to Indonesia.
"That really scared me. I couldn't sleep for two weeks." Mr Wainggai said he would have been in danger if he had been returned to Papua.
"I always feel under threat in West Papua, and my aunt and uncle tell me to watch out because my father is the founder of the independence movement – Thomas Wainggai who died in in Indonesian custody." Mr Wainggai said he had to hide his true identity and make out his uncle had found him abandoned as a baby in the undergrowth.
He said the boat carrying the 43 asylum seekers from the north of Papua in January almost didn't make it, after he was taken in custody by Indonesian police at the start of the journey. The asylum seekers pulled in at the island of Sorong and attended church but the islanders, suspecting the strangers might be terrorists, called police.
The group fled but Mr Wainggai was caught and questioned for two hours. "They took my identification papers. They even asked about the boat and who built it," he said. Suspicion was averted when "we said we came for a traditional festival".