2) Indonesia condemns decision to award Benny Wenda
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1) Malnutrition, disease kill at least 139 displaced in Indonesia's Papua - group
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Thousands of people in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua have been displaced by fighting between soldiers and separatists, and at least 139 of them have died from malnutrition and disease, an aid group said on Thursday.
But the Indonesian military disputed the figures for deaths and displaced issued by the Solidarity Team for Nduga aid group.
A long-running separatist movement in Papua has seen an increase in violence in recent months.
The military launched a crackdown following the killing by the rebels of 16 construction workers building a highway in the mountainous Nduga area in December.
Hipolitus Wangge, a volunteer with the aid group, said 139 people had died in a camp for displaced in the town of Wamena, 40 of them aged under 5 and 24 older children.
He said 5,200 people, including 700 children, were sheltering in Wamena without enough food, clean water and clothing, while access to health and education was limited.
Many of the displaced were suffering from respiratory infections, diarrhoea and dysentery, he said.
“This morning, a two-year-old child died,” Wangge told reporters at a news briefing in Jakarta.
Muhammad Aidi, a spokesman for Indonesia’s military command in Papua said the group’s account of the situation was a “hoax”.
“There is no data on deaths,” he said, asking for proof of where the bodies were buried, while saying there was no data even on the size of the population in the area.
Aidi said some villagers had returned to their homes with the help of the military and the government and those who had not were afraid of the separatists.
Papua parliament member Emus Gwijangge has urged the military to allow journalists to go to Nduga, saying it had been difficult for the public to get an independent account, the Papuan media outlet Jubi.com reported.
Gwijangge estimated thousands were still displaced.
President Joko Widodo has sought to ease tension in the restive region, which became part of Indonesia after a controversial U.N.-backed referendum in 1969, by freeing prisoners, addressing rights concerns and stepping up investment.
Widodo has also pledged to developed impoverished Papua with projects like the Trans Papua Highway. After the killing of construction workers, he ordered the military to help complete the project.
Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Robert Birsel
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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2) Indonesia condemns decision to award Benny Wenda
9 hours ago
The Oxford City Council's has lack of understanding of Benny Wenda's action and the actual conditions of the Provinces of Papua and West Papua, including their development and progress
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia has strongly condemned the Oxford City Council’s decision to award Benny Wenda, a member of the West Papua movement separatist group, the Freedom of the City. "The Oxford City Council's has lack of understanding of Benny Wenda's action and the actual conditions of the Provinces of Papua and West Papua, including their development and progress," said a statement from Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta Thursday.Indonesia's position on separatist groups would remain firm. Indonesia will not retreat even an inch to enforce the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), the statement clarified.
The Oxford Freedom of the City Award announced for Wenda on July 17, 2019, was being presented to the wrong person because he believed in the use of violence to achieve his political goals, the Indonesian Embassy in London earlier said in its written statement.
The Indonesian Embassy in London questioned the basis for giving the award to those called "peaceful campaigners for democracy" in the midst of the abundant evidence linking those concerned with various armed violence in Papua.
The award would actually provide legitimacy to the person and his group to increase their acts of violence against civilians and government officials who maintain the sustainability of economic, social and cultural development in Papua, the embassy stated.
Therefore, awarding people with criminal records through armed separatist movements shows the lack of understanding of the Council and the progress of the actual development of the Provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Through this action, the Oxford City Council has again hurt the feelings of the Indonesian people.
The award was a continuation of the Council's support for the Free Papua movement after giving permission for the opening of the Free West Papua Campaign office in Oxford in 2013.
Presenting awards to such people also reduces the credibility of the city of Oxford as one of the leading education centers in the world.
The award can hamper efforts to increase cooperation between Indonesia and the United Kingdom (UK), and with the City of Oxford, especially when the two countries are celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations, the embassy argued.
However, the Indonesian government noted the assertive statement of the British government that fully supported the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia, and that the award from the Oxford City Council did not represent the position of the British government.
"The Indonesian government respects the stance of the United Kingdom which continues to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Indonesia, and acknowledges that Papua is an inseparable part of Indonesia," the embassy stated.
Reporter: Yashinta Difa / Azis Kurmala
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