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Down Under
Aussies may guard PNG airports
2004-12-13
CANBERRA is considering sending customs, immigration and security officers to improve security at Papua New Guinea's air and sea ports because of concerns the country could by used as a transit route for terrorists, weapons and people smugglers. Concern about lax border controls in PNG and steps Australia could take to improve the situation have been discussed by cabinet's National Security Committee, government sources told The Australian. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and six other ministers are flying to PNG today for two days of talks with their PNG counterparts in Lae. Border security is understood to be high on the agenda.

Australian security officials are alarmed at PNG's relatively porous borders and believe PNG staff are susceptible to bribes. Terrorist groups and other criminal gangs could take advantage of lax security to board flights to Australia or cross the relatively narrow Torres Strait. Plans for direct Australian intervention would have to be balanced by concern not to upset local sensitivities, diplomats believe. Even with PNG's co-operation, the presence of Australian staff could provoke a "colonialist backlash". A spokesman for Mr Downer declined to comment on the border security move last night. Australia earlier this year committed $800 million to restoring law and order and improving governance in PNG as part of its broader effort to ensure stability in the Pacific. The program known as the Enhanced Co-operation Package involves 210 police in Port Moresby and 64 public servants placed throughout the bureaucracy over five years.

In a briefing ahead of the meeting, Mr Downer said he did not believe Canberra could expand its commitment at this stage. "This meeting is really about getting a progress report on how the enhanced co-operation package is going," he said. "Police have only been on the beat for a week or so but we've had people working in the bureaucracy for some months now, so it's a good time to take a look at it."
Posted by:God Save The World

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