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| Down Under |
| Indonesians demand Papuan girl's return |
| 2006-04-13 |
| INDONESIA is demanding the return of a four-year-old girl among 42 Papuan asylum-seekers given refuge in Australia, alleging she was taken illegally by her father without her mother's consent. Toddler Anike Wanggai and her fisherman father, Yunus, were among 43 Papuan separatists who landed on Cape York in January, claiming a campaign of genocide by Indonesian security forces in their homeland. But Anike's mother, Siti Pandera Wanggai, who is estranged from her husband, said the first she learned of her daughter's dangerous sea journey from Papua was when she saw Anike on TV. "I could only scream her name - 'Anike, this is Mama'," she said in Papua's provincial capital, Jayapura. Anike's grandmother, Persila Wanggai, said the little girl had been living with her father in Jayapura for two years while the couple planned their divorce. Siti was living separately in the Papuan town of Manokwari. Claims the child was taken illegally may increase tensions between Australia and Indonesia, which are already at their lowest since the East Timor crisis of 1999 after Canberra gave temporary visas to all but one of the Papuans. Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Indonesia wanted Anike returned and was helping her mother in a legal fight to win back custody. Siti said she fainted when she saw TV footage of her daughter arriving in Melbourne with her jubilant father. "I want Anike back. I'm not sure Yunus can take good care of her," she said. Im an Australian and i am DAMN PROUD of it & am also damn proud of what we have built this country up to be. Yes, we may have been a bunch of convicts, but look at our Country - we are proud and strong, and we should never give in to your demands. I vote Howard, but lately i am beginning to change my mind. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #2 the little girl had been living with her father in Jayapura for two years while the couple planned their divorce. You're joking, Right? No Divorce is "Planned" for two years while you live apart and have already divided the children. Sounds bogus to me, probably just for the publicity. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-04-13 21:46 |
| #1 Oztrailian: Is there a reason that you are changing your mind about Howard? I follow Tim Blair's site and, other than his hoplophobia, he seems pretty durn good. Does your response have to do with the new anti-immigration from the sea? Thanks. Alan PS Was down there 20 years ago, do you still "Tip a Tooey's or Two, Mate"? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2006-04-13 14:01 |