Page 20 - IB August 2021

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Political and church leaders at Manokwari celebrate the 160th anniversary of An Indonesian military officer watches proceedings at a church function
the arrival of Christianity in 2014 at Manokwari, West Papua
WEST PAPUA’S LONG AND DESPERATE

STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM

By Netani Rika rounded up and coerced to vote for integration with Indone-
sia.
December 2021 will mark the 60th anniversary of the dec- By acquiescing to this electoral fraud, the US secured Indo-
laration of Papua’s independence and the beginning of eight nesia’s support in the Cold War and its ongoing, futile attempt
years of international coalescence to rob a people of their to secure Vietnam against the perceived Communist threat.
freedom. Australia – which had troops on the ground in Vietnam and
After billions of dollars of profits for multi-national corpo- investments in Papua – was also concerned over implications
rations and the murder of half a million Papuans, Indonesia of a large military force on the border with New Guinea which
continues to occupy the land it first invaded in May 1962. was under its administration.
That year, the newly-formed Papuan Volunteer Corps For Indonesia’s President Sukarno, securing Papua fulfilled
repulsed an attack by Indonesian paratroopers, forcing the his pre-independence promise and slogan of a republic from
United Nations to intervene to save the invasion force. The Sabang in the east to Merauke in the west.
Netherlands, United States and Indonesia then struck a deal Just after Indonesia’s independence from the Netherlands in
which led to the longest war for independence in modern 1949, the Netherlands and Western powers agreed that Pap-
history. uans – based on their ethnic and religious beliefs - be given an
August 15 is seen as the day the world betrayed Papua for independent state.
the sake of the security of US armed forces in Vietnam and A hospital was built in Jayapura (formerly Hollandia), and
the profits of its multi-billion dollar mining interests. a shipyard in Manokwari where the first missionaries landed
The date marks “a day of betrayal for us West Papuans”, in 1855. A military force was formed for internal and external
says a Papuan leader in exile, Benny Wenda. defence.
“This is the day a secret deal was done between the United Legislative, advisory and policy functions were given to the
States, Indonesia and the Netherlands, deciding our future New Guinea Council and a Papuan, Nicolaas Jouwe, became
without any consultation with the people of West Papua.” its short-lived vice president.
Wenda heads the United Liberation Movement of West Pap- Jouwe designed the Morning Star flag, symbol of Papuan
ua (ULMWP), created with the help of the Vanuatu churches, resistance, which was raised on December 1961.
its council of chiefs and the Pacific Conference of Churches. As international pressure and lobbying by the US, Australia
“This secret deal was done without a single West Papuan in and its allies mounted at the United Nations, the Netherlands
the room,” he says. was forced to review its original plan to grant Papua indepen-
Wenda believes the deal included an agreement to hold a dence in 1970.
referendum—one person, one vote—to decide the long term Now, Wenda has renewed calls for the United Nations Com-
future of Netherlands New Guinea (later named Irian Jaya by mission on Human Rights to urgently visit Papua and deter-
Indonesia or West Papua by its Indigenous people). mine the state of the people.
“But it never happened,” Wenda said. In August 1969, after The West Papua Conference of Churches has echoed the
a truce between the Netherlands and Indonesia, the United call, pointing to increased human rights violations by mem-
Nations Temporary Authority took control of Papua and seven bers of the Indonesian security forces.
years later handed the territory over without consulting the These include the bombing of villages to clear land for
people. mining and forestry projects along with race-based attacks on
“The 1969 Act of No Choice was a fraud. Our right to self- students beginning in 2018.
determination remains stolen from us by Indonesia.’’ To the churches, it is obvious that Indonesia and its sup-
Known in Indonesia as the Act of Free Choice and supervised porters in the US and Australia, remain driven by economic
by the United Nations, 1022 of Papua’s 816,000 people were benefits.

20 Islands Business, August 2021