1) Papua
Flotilla waiting to contact Indonesian authorities
2)
PNG foreign Minister Pato hails Indonesia
3) What
will the West Papua flotilla mean for Australia-Indonesia relations?
|
5)
Freedom Flotilla completes sacred mission
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/papua-flotilla-waiting-to-contact-indonesian-authorities/1190239
1) Papua Flotilla waiting to contact Indonesian authorities
Updated 13 September 2013, 11:42 AEST
... where a flotilla of boats is trying to sail to the Indonesian Province of Papua to protest against treason charges against four community leaders.
The 20 or so activists started their trip in Australia's central Lake Eyre and set off from Cairns on the sea leg earlier this week.
The Freedom Flotilla West Papua has been warned by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, that if they are arrested or detained, the Australian government will not provide any extra consular assistance.
Yesterday when we talked to them, they were close to the Indonesian marine border - 24 hours later, they're not much further on.
Onboard the flagship of the flotilla, the "Pog Mo Hon", organiser Izzy Brown gave this update.
Presenter: Wendy Everett
Speaker: Organiser Izzy Brown from the Freedom Flotilla
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.islandsbusiness.com/news/papua-new-guinea/2836/png-foreign-minister-pato-hails-indonesia/
2) PNG foreign Minister Pato hails Indonesia
PORT MORESBY, PNG --- Indonesia has started to follow up commitments listed in the 11 memorandum of agreements (MoA) recently signed with Papua New Guinea, Foreign Affairs Minister Rimbink Pato says.
He made the comment after meeting his counterpart Dr Marty Natalegawa at a recent conference in Indonesia where they discussed bilateral issues.
Pato said in a statement that he was pleased to note that the Indonesian government had already begun follow-up actions.
“The officials of both countries are working on a framework of actions to implement the MoA,” he said.
“And through this process, we should aim to identify concrete developmental projects that can be pursued within specific programmes and timelines for achieving them.
“This will ultimately boil down to the two countries securing requisite funds and other resources to implement the projects identified in the action plan.”
Pato commended Indonesia’s leaLawmaker Accuses WWF of Instigating Harrison Ford Ministry Rowdership in addressing the irregular movement of people within the region.
The conference was attended by 11 government ministers and officials from 13 countries in the Southeast Asian region including Australia and New Zealand.
Natalegawa thanked Pato for highlighting important points at the conference.
Commitments by both countries emanated from the state visit by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in June.
They agreed that the two countries should focus on priority sectors including trade and economic development, infrastructure development, security, culture, social and welfare issues and the border of West Papua and Papua provinces of Indonesia.
An Indonesian parliamentary delegation will visit PNG this month to forge a network between the House of Representatives in Indonesia and members of parliament in PNG.
He said this would enhance friendship, cooperation and understanding between the leaders of the two countries.
Meanwhile, PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill held discussions on bilateral relations with the new Thailand Ambassador Maris Sangiampongsa and Bangladeshi High Commissioner MD Nazmulquaunine in Port Moresby
O’Neill received letters of introduction from the two envoys Wednesday.
A statement said that O’Neill had the first meeting with Ambassador Sangiampongsa to welcome him and discuss various matters of mutual interests which included trade and investment.
O’Neill also met with High Commissioner Nazmulquaunine and acknowledged the robust establishment of PNG-Bangladesh in 1983.
He embraced excellent progress in trade, investment and various sections of cooperation that have transpired over the years.
“PNG recognises the importance of regional and international organisations and the common views and the aspirations they share under the auspices of these organisations to recognise their growth and advancement.
“We also note the important areas PNG and Bangladesh could pursue and seek ways of mutual benefit.
O’Neill said PNG sought ways on how their relations should be further enhanced and sought to promote mutual understanding between both countries for further cooperation in all fronts.
The prime minister extended his sincere welcome to the two new diplomats and wished them a pleasant tenure in PNG for the next four years they would be serving.
---------------------------------------------------------------
http://theconversation.com/what-will-the-west-papua-flotilla-mean-for-australia-indonesia-relations-18085
13 September 2013, 2.10pm AEST
3) What will the West Papua flotilla mean for Australia-Indonesia relations?
Given the extreme sensitivity with which the issue of West Papua is viewed in Indonesia, the “Freedom Flotilla” heading from Australia to the Indonesian-controlled territory is sure to create tension.
The question now is how much tension and how it will be handled by all involved.
West Papua refers to the western half of the island of New Guinea that has been under Indonesian rule since 1962. Indigenous Melanesians living there have continued to call for self-determination. Recently, Australian Aboriginal political activists have entered the fray. One result of this is the Freedom Flotilla, which is aimed at bringing this issue into the mainstream.
The Aboriginal link is important. The genesis of the Freedom Flotilla was in the Aboriginal Tent embassy in Canberra in 2000, when the newly-arrived West Papuan exile Jacob Rumbiak met with Aboriginal elder “Uncle” Kevin Buzzacott and explained the dilemma facing the West Papuans.
This struck a chord with Buzzacott. It resonated with the long history of Aboriginal occupation, dispossession and marginalisation. Buzzacott saw the connection as deeper than shared victimhood. He traced their ancient historical and cultural relationship back to prehistoric times with its common past and ancestry.
The Freedom Flotilla started in Blanche Springs, adjacent to Lake Eyre in Australia’s arid heart. Carrying water from this spring and ashes from the Tent Embassy fireplace, the quest came to symbolise a re-connection of these two ancient peoples. The group travelled from the desert to Cairns and boarded the flotilla for the final leg to Merauke on Papua’s southern coast. Two of the vessels subsequently broke down, leaving only the flotilla’s flagship vessel, The Pog.
Flotilla members were issued with Aboriginal passports and given entry visas by Rumbiak in his self-proclaimed capacity as “Foreign Minister” of the “Federated Republic of West Papua”.
Flotilla spokesman Ruben Blake says the flotilla hopes to draw attention to the situation in West Papua and pave the way for journalists and independent observers to have greater access. Pointedly, the flotilla also hopes to highlight Australia’s silence on West Papua and its complicity through its funding of the Indonesian military.
But no-one knows how this will end. The Indonesian government has signalled its intention to stop the flotilla from landing in West Papua and its armed forces have been told to intercept the vessel. The best outcome would be if the boat is peacefully “turned around” – but other, less benign, outcomes are also possible. The worst would be the use of armed force by the Indonesians, which seems unlikely but given the the military’s violent reputation, it is not impossible.
Another scenario involves The Pog being impounded and the crew arrested, if for no other reason than travelling without valid passports and visas. This could mean a long spell in jail and loss of the vessel.
The possibility also remains for a major diplomatic incident.
Former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr has withdrawn diplomatic support for people who intentionally break other country’s laws. He also dismissed flotilla members as being engaged in a “cruel hoax” in promoting the “impossible” dream of an independent West Papua. But this will not put the story back in the can.
Incoming Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop will be left to deal with seething anger felt in Jakarta at what it sees as a direct threat to their sovereignty coming from Australia shores. After Australia’s involvement in East Timor’s liberation, distrust and suspicion of Australian motives remains high. The possibility of a freeze in bilateral relations, as occurred in 2006 over Australia accepting West Papuan refugees, persists.
Given all the areas in which Australia and Indonesia must engage, such as on asylum seeker policy, this relationship is of first order importance for both countries. But whichever way this episode ends, the Freedom Flotilla has highlighted one of the most fraught issues between Australia and Indonesia.
Also seeping into the collective consciousness is the notion that West Papua is the “new” East Timor. Increased militarisation, massive resource development and a huge influx of non-Melanesian Indonesian migrants has intensified the situation.
This bodes badly for the bilateral relationship.
If Australia’s future relations with Indonesia hang on the thread of West Papua – as the diplomatic frenzy created by six people on a leaking boat seems to imply – much more attention must be devoted to the grievances of the West Papuan people. This has now become a matter of regional security.
------------------------------------------------
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=79087
Posted at 01:22 on 13 September, 2013 UTC
A freedom flotilla of Australian activists has held a secret meeting with West Papua indigenous leaders on the sea and has declared its mission completed.
The last remaining vessel was to enter Indonesian waters early this morning, but the group was deterred by threats of military force, and a lack of support from Australian authorities.
The groups met on the Australian-Indonesian border to ’ceremonially reconnect’ elders, after the group travelled 5000 kilometres from Lake Eyre in Australia’s south.
The group reports Arabunna Elder Uncle Kevin Buzzacott presented sacred water from Lake Eyre to the West Papuan elders, as well as ashes from Aboriginal tent embassies around Australia.
He says the group was unarmed and came in peace, unlike politicians ’who are coming selling arms to the Indonesian military, like the Americans who just last month sold them Apache attack choppers, those are to be used against West Papuans, and they know it.’
---------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1309/S00246/freedom-flotilla-completes-sacred-mission.htm5) Freedom Flotilla completes sacred mission |
Freedom Flotilla completes sacred mission
September 13th
Evading the Indonesian navy, two tiny boats met near the Australia-Indonesia border to ceremonially reconnect the indigenous peoples of Australia and West Papua. The ceremony was the pinnacle of a 5000km journey beginning in Lake Eyre, in which sacred water and ashes were carried and presented to West Papuan leaders.
While the Freedom Flotilla’s flagship the Pog sailed towards West Papua, the world watched its progress via a live satellite tracker onboard the vessel, providing a much needed distraction for the clandestine ceremony to take place in an undisclosed location off the south coast of Papua.
The cultural exchange of Indigenous elders was held in secret, due to threats made by Indonesian government ministers and military officials who had stated that the navy and air-force would “take measures” against the peaceful protest, and had not ruled out the use of lethal force. Soon to be Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had also stated that Indonesia may do “whatever it wishes” to stop the peaceful protest.
During the momentous ceremony Arabunna Elder Uncle Kevin Buzzacott presented the sacred water from the mound springs of Lake Eyre, along with ashes from the Aboriginal Tent Embassies around the country, to senior West Papuan leaders. The exchange was intended to reunite the cultures of the two indigenous peoples, whose lands where once joined before being separated at the end of the last ice age, and as a symbol of support for the West Papuans’ 50 year long struggle for freedom and justice under Indonesian military occupation.
Earlier this year, Uncle Kevin Buzzacott called out to all people to join him on this journey to West Papua. “We have a responsibility to care for our brothers and sisters from across the water. We must bring the water and the fire, the love and the music to heal the country and move in solidarity.”
Returning from the historic event Uncle Kevin Buzzacott said “we came in peace, not like those other politicians who are coming selling arms to the Indonesian military, like the Americans who just last month sold them Apache attack choppers, those are to be used against West Papuans, and they know it.”
“We made that dream that we’ve been building with Jacob Rumbiak since 2000, we made it happen,” he added.
Jacob Rumbiak said, “the spirit of the movement is still alive. Our people face many challenges for their freedom but they still show us today the determination and imagination to continue the struggle.”
Footage of the historic ceremony is now available by request, having just been confirmed that participants have made the risky return across the heavily patrolled border, and are laying low inside West Papua.
"We work for world peace and justice, we start from our region, the Pacific." Jacob Rumbiak,
ENDS
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.