Several West Papuans are gathering in Cairns this week to lobby Pacific Islands Forum leaders at their annual summit to have Indonesia's Papua region discussed at the Forum. West Papuan representatives have regularly lobbied Forum leaders to raise the issue of ongoing human rights abuses in Papua with the Indonesian government.
In the past, Forum leaders have responded by mentioning concern about the troubled Indonesian region in the Forum's official communique, but more recent Forum summit communiques have not mentioned Papua.
The secretary-general of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, Rex Rumakiek, is among those who will be lobbying the leaders in Cairns. He says Papua has long been considered part of the Pacific community and that the Forum cannot keep ignoring it.
[Rumakiek] They have to be consistent with the issues that they raised in the previous Forums. We will keep on reminding them of things that we have been lobbying them about before, that they are now happening again. So we have to make them realize that they have to be consistent with their own views as well.
Source: Radio New Zealand International, Wellington, in English 1300 gmt 3 Aug 09
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