The
conflict between the government and indigenous Papuans, particularly those
Papuans involved with the Free Papua Movement (OPM), has long been considered
an Indonesian domestic affair. The government has rejected the involvement of
any foreign parties in the settlement of issues faced in Papua.Respecting
Indonesia’s sovereignty, no foreign country has raised the Papua issue at
regional or international forums.
No country supports the OPM’s struggle
for separating Papua from Indonesia.
Nevertheless, as Indonesia celebrates 70 years of
independence and 52 years since Papua’s integration into the republic this
year, there have been some new developments involving the Papua issue in the
Pacific region.
The new developments began with the formation of the
United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) in December 2014. Three
organizations under the umbrella of the OPM gathered in Port Villa. With the
help of Vanuatu, they established the ULMWP to coordinate activities and
represent the resistance movement in collaboration with external parties. Since
then the OPM has appeared as a more united force with a united voice.
Representing the various Papuan resistance groups, the
ULMWP officially applied for full membership at the Melanesian Spearhead Group
(MSG), a sub-regional grouping in the Pacific, in February 2015. The MSG
comprises Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New
Caledonia. The application was supported by representatives from all countries
in Melanesia. They have called the people of Papua their “Melanesian brothers
and sisters of West Papua” and have declared the Papua issue a Melanesian
issue.
Instead of granting the ULMWP full membership, the Melanesian
leaders at the 20th MSG summit held in June 2015 in the Solomon Islands decided
to offer the group observer status. It was the first political recognition of
the OPM. As an observer, the ULMWP began introducing the Papua issue to all the
countries of the Pacific. Within two months, the issue was drawing wider
attention — and the OPM was stronger support from Pacific countries.
Such was the support from around the Pacific region,
in August 2015 it was decided that the Papua issue would be one of five main
agenda items at the 46th summit of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in PNG in
mid-September.
On Sept. 1 and 2, the Pacific Islands Association of
Non-Government Organizations gathered in Port Moresby for a civil society
partnership forum. The organizations offered a collective public apology to
Papuans for their past ignorance and neglect of their suffering.
They jointly called for Pacific leaders “to send a
high-level PIF delegation, including civil society organizations [CSOs] and
church leaders, on a fact-finding mission to West Papua” and urged for “the
re-inscription of West Papua on the UN [Non-Self-Governing Territories] list as
an important step toward an independent and free West Papua”.
The leaders of 16 Pacific countries gathered in Port
Moresby for the 46th PIF summit, from Sept. 7 to 11. They communicated their
collective position on Papua in the PIF’s communiqué, explicitly expressing
respect for and recognition of Indonesia’s sovereignty over Papua, while
raising their concern regarding human rights violations in the province.
The Pacific leaders requested that the Prime Minister
of PNG consult with the Indonesian government on the establishment of a
fact-finding mission to Papua. The mission is meant to assess the human rights
situation in Papua and West Papua provinces. Consequently, the Papua issue is
now a Pacific issue. Its settlement will and should involve Indonesia, all
Pacific countries and the Papuans. Pacific CSOs and leaders of Pacific
countries will now be following the situation closely, particularly possible
human rights violations in the western half of New Guinea.
Pacific leaders may now raise the Papua issue at
sub-regional, regional and even international forums, as 52 years on from West
Papua’s integration into Indonesia, and after the resulting deaths of thousands
of Papuans, the case remains unsettled.
It is necessary for the government to prevent Papua
from becoming an international issue. It cannot and will not be settled by
deploying more troops to Papua and West Papua and establishing more military
commands there. For five decades now the security approach has failed. The
government is strongly urged to explore peaceful means to address the
situation.
Given these new developments, President Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo should appoint a high-level government official, such as a minister, to
be in charge of the case. That person could be assisted by a small team of
non-Papuans who are fully trusted and respected by Papuans, who could maintain
close communications with all parties concerned.Such communication is badly
needed to prepare the way for peace talks between representatives of the
government and the Papuan resistance groups represented by the ULMWP. This
could help to settle the Papua issue through peaceful means
The writer Neles Tebay, Jayapura, Papua is a lecturer
at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and the Coordinator of the Papua Peace
Network in Abepura. In 2013 he was awarded the Tji Hak-son Justice and Peace
Award in Seoul -
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