Asylum seekers and 'non-political native refugees' in Papua and New Guinea

Between 1963 and 1969, several thousand West Papuan refugees crossed the border between West Irian and the Australian territory of Papua and New Guinea. Australian officials sent most of them back, but granted five-year permissive residence visas to those considered 'genuine' refugees before the 'Act of Free Choice'. The article explores the purported and actual motives of the Australian government's response to West Papuan refugees.