INDONESIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL have been giving themselves an undeserved freedom and authority to walk through the border between PNG and West Papua over the last several months. Papua New Guinea villagers who live in the border areas have reported that there have been frequent incursions undertaken by Indonesian military personnel. This has gone on without any regard for the border between the two nations. In one of the many such incursions, the soldiers burnt down houses and physically abused Papua New Guinean citizens in the Papua New Guinea side of the border. These actions by the Indonesian military are in complete disregard for the territorial integrity of Papua New Guinea and much more for the human rights of its citizens. For their part, PNG soldiers and policemen have exhibited a remarkable and commendable restraint to not engage Indonesian soldiers when they encountered them in PNGs territory.
The recent incursion brought to light the fact that the Papua New Guinea Government has neglected the border and its people’s rights for some years now. In its management, the border issue has been postponed to the status of an afterthought which attracts government attention only if it appears as a disaster. The PNG Government should do more to step up the security and ability of the soldiers and policemen to keep up a vigilance over the border. Although it demanded an explanation and an apology from Indonesia, no apology has been forthcoming from Jakarta as yet. Instead what we are given is a pathetic reason that the incursions were perpetrated by recently trained soldiers who were ignorant of the border relations between Papua New Guineans and West Papuans who inhabit the border areas.
Reports of Indonesian military infiltration into PNG has been in circulation for atleast some two years now. I am beginning to wonder if the recent incursions is much more than a mistake by some ignorant Indonesian soldiers. Could it be that the soldiers are testing the waters, could it be that the incursions are more deliberate, based on a colonialist design then we are led to believe? Mightn’t it be that the incursions portend a more subtle yet gradual an expansionist agenda that Indonesia is pursuing in the region?
Invasion and intimidation of PNG’s citizens along the common border has been taking for the last 40 years and the only action our Government have taken is to send a diplomatic note to complain about these incursions. What can PNG do as a small army ill equiped to handle such matters?.
The people along the west coast of Vanimo, especially people of Wutung the village on PNG side of the border have always lived in fear of been raided, kidnapped, murdered and harassed by the Indonesia’s military of Asian origin.
I am a third generation decendent of a woman from Skow a Melanesian villages just on the other side of the Tami River a few kms from Wutung. I come from Lido village next to Vanimo town and grew up during the early 60s to 70s living with fear that our town and villages would be raided by the “Javanese army” and our people mistreated like our Melanesian relatives on the other side of the border.
While I don’t think Indonesian will try a West Papua or Leste Timores type of invasion of PNG at this time, the Indonesian military will continue to invade our country and intimidate our people along the border as long as there is no strong Government presence and develoment of the border region from Western to Sandaun Provinces.
Then there are other forms of invasions that ‘intimidates’ the border people an will have term effects on PNG. The social, economic and political influences brought on by the opening of the border to local traders at Wutung/Batas means lot more than just “strenghtening of relations between our people’.
While the economic benefits to the border people are good for them in certain ways, PNG citizens in these five west coast villages are not only mingling with our people on the other side of the border, they are speaking Bahasa Indonesia, cooking and eating Indonesian food and buy the cheaper goods and services that Indonesians provide via Jayapura and Batas. PNG shoppers travel from as far as Wewak, Madang and Hagen to shop at Jayapura.
There have been cases of illegal trading of petrol and kerosen, allegations of arms. porn and drug smuggling and growning business of prostitution by PNG citizens visiting Jayapura. There are no proper policies and measures in place for monitoring and control of disease and pests invasion.
Many of our local plants, flowers and crops have been destroyed or replaced with Indonesian variaties. There is no awareness on dangers of the loss of our crops and biodiversity through introduction of pests and plant diseases from Java, Bali and other Indonesian provinces to Wes Papua and through to PNG via Jayapura.
In other words, invasion of PNG is not only a military issue but a bigger national concern that is going a little out of control.