Indonesia lauds blocking West Papua in MSG

THE INDONESIAN AMBASSADOR TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA, Mr Bom Soerjanto, has praised the Papua New Guinea Government for the part it has played in blocking the issue of a free and independent West Papua to be raised in the recent meetings of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and the Pacific Islands Forum. Mr Soerjanto made these remarks recently at a reception held as part of Indonesia’s celebration of its 63 years of independence.

“Mr Soerjanto said the relations [between PNG and Indonesia] had been buoyed by mutually acceptable bilateral arrangements including the basic agreement on border arrangements, the treaty of mutual respect, friendship and co-operation and the recently established joint ministerial commision which serve as major pillars of the existing cooperative relations”.

I do not know what to make of this particular statement. This Ambassador is simply placating the ears of Papua New Guinean and Australian officials who gathered during that reception. The message came out the same time as the reports of Indonesian military planes invading Papua New Guinea’s airspace came out in the press. Indonesian military changed its tactics of intimidation over night shifting from terrestrial to aerial incursions. A few weeks earlier in just this month we read about how Indonesian military have made unwarranted incursions into PNG and have been harassing Papua New Guineans who live in and around the border villages. Despite all these things, the Ambassador could still talk about border arrangements, mutual respect and friendship.

Shifting the attention away from the incursions and hostility waged against Papua New Guineans, the Ambassador praises PNG for supporting the way Indonesia is treating issues of West Papua away from the notice of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and the Pacific Island Forum. This is not the first time PNG has given its back to its Melanesian brothers and sisters who live on the other side of the border. In some fundamental way, the future of the West Papuan people and their campaign for a free and independent West Papua depends on PNG and Australia raising their hands to support this issue. The West Papuans are  innocent victims of an international conspiracy, ideological war and corporate capitalism. By listening to Indonesia, PNG has participated in the killings, rapes and the violent exploitation of our Melanesian brothers and sisters through complicity.

The people and government of Vanuatu have made a persistent effort to raise the issue of a free West Papua. In the last two MSG meetings (held in Goroka in PNG and Port Villa in Vanuatu), Vanuatu has pushed the agenda for West Papua to be granted an ”observer status” in the MSG meetings. These attempts were blocked by the PNG Government. In Vanuatu recently, a group of high ranking chiefs have condemned the decision of the MSG to not grant West Papua an observer status in the MSG meetings. These Vanuatu chiefs say that the decision to keep out West Papua in the MSG does not reflect the wishes and aspirations of the Melanesian peoples to see that West Papua is free from Indonesian occupation.

“Human Rights violations against West Papuans continue to happen everyday. How much longer are we going to tolerate these atrocities? When will we have leaders who can take charge adn do what many of us expect of them?”