Joy Kisselpar
PORT MORESBY (PNG Loop/ Fiji Broadcasting Corporation/ Pacific Beat/ Pacific Media Watch): Seven Pacific islands journalists, in Port Moresby for the 46th Pacific Island Forum, are relieved the PNG government has intervened in the immigration blunder resulting in the confiscation of their passports.
They were detained and held at the Port Moresby airport for around three hours because they had not paid the 1000 kina fee per journalist, but were later released without their passports.
Samisoni Pareti, editor-in-chief of Islands Business magazine, said there was no such fee mentioned at previous forums.
"We told them that that's news to us because we had gone through the accreditation process two months before arrival and there was no mention at all about the K1000 fee that they are now talking about," he said.
"We told them we would rather return to our country than paying the fee.
"At the stage we asked for phone access so we could call our Foreign Affairs here but they said we were not entitled to a phone call."
Foreign affairs officials and Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat were not aware of the special visa and fees until right on the eve of the visiting journalists’ arrival.
Pato intervenes
At the weekend, Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato issued a letter for the return of the seven passports.
Veteran journalist and manager of the Pacific Island News Association, Makareta Komai, said it was a welcome sign to see the foreign minister intervene.
“We are hoping good sense will prevail and they will return our passports so we can leave when the forum ends,” she told LOOP News.
Samoan journalist Asenati Semu said that after two long days of travelling their detention was really frustrating.
“But I am thankful for the government’s intervention,” she said.
Viola Ulaka, manager of news and current affairs at Tonga Broadcasting Commission, is relieved but anxious.
More Pacific reporters arrived in the weekend, but this time PNG immigration officials were briefed and all were allowed through.
Some leaders from Small Island States also began to arrive in Port Moresby for the Pacific Forum meeting today.
Among 30 or so journalists attending the workshop are seven from Fiji, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
Pacific Media Watch
