West Papua asylum seekers taken to PNG A GROUP of seven West Papuan asylum seekers say they were duped by Australian authorities who took them to Port Moresby where they fear persecution. Believed to be a family including a woman and 10-year-old child, the group arrived by speed boat at Australia's Boigu Island in the Torres Strait on Tuesday. They were detained there before being transferred to Saibai Island and then Horne Island. On Thursday night, the group say they were told they would be taken to mainland Australia. "When we are on the aircraft, when the door is closed and the seatbelt is tied, the guy from the immigration tell us we are not going to the mainland but we are returning to PNG," group member Jacob Mandabayan told ABC TV. A statement from the Freedom Flotilla, a group purporting to represent these asylum seekers, said requests for legal representation were denied on Horne Island and mobile phones and identity documents were confiscated. There are reports the family fled their home after being hounded by Indonesian authorities for participating in a welcome ceremony for West Papuan independence activists. Inquiries to the Immigration Department were referred to the office of Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, who is currently visiting PNG and had not answered AAP's questions on the matter.