2) Brisbane priest urges more help for West Papuans in exile By Matt Emerick,
3) Papua provincial govt increases investment through infrastructure
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1) Indonesian police beef up security in Papua's Mimika District
9 hours ago
Timika, Papua (ANTARA) - The Indonesian police in Mimika, Papua Province, have intensified security in the district's area prior to the commemoration of the West Papua National Committee's (KNPB's) anniversary on Nov 19, a police officer revealed.
Security was increased in Timika, the capital city of Mimika District, by stepping up routine patrolling to offer a sense of security and safety to the local residents, Mimika Police Chief, Adjunct Sen. Coms. I Gusti Gede Era Adhinata stated here on Monday.
"The more intensified patrols at vulnerable areas are not merely conducted as precautionary measures ahead of the commemoration of KNPB's anniversary but they are also held to make the local community members sentient of the police’s presence," he explained.
Adhinata remarked that the KNPB had been striving to counter the spread of an ideology running counter to the basic principles of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. As a result, the police officers will take stern actions against its members and loyalists.
"We are taking stern actions against them if they really violate Indonesia's laws," he noted, adding that the National Police and Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) have continued to monitor the moves of armed Papuan rebels in the areas of Tembagapura District.
On October 13, taking into account the real threats posed by armed Papuan separatists, Papua Police Chief Inspector General Paulus Waterpauw evaluated the readiness of members of the police's mobile brigade unit at the Mimika police precinct.
Waterpauw warned the police personnel there to remain vigilant. In October, Waterpauw and Commander of the XVII Cenderawasih Regional Military Command Major General Herman Assaribab had also paid a visit to Tembagapura District whose areas had been used as a mining site by gold and copper mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia for decades.
The visit was made to evaluate the readiness of police and military personnel tasked with defending and securing the areas, Waterpauw explained.
Over 800 personnel of the Police Mobile Brigade joined the Amole Task Force unit. They are backed by the Nemangkawai Task Force unit, he remarked, adding that he lauded the dedication of personnel stationed in the mining areas.
The presence of police and military personnel in risky areas focused on maintaining security and peace, he added. Related news: Stay alert, Papua police chief warns Mimika policemen
Related news: Police interrogate 15 Papuan youngsters in Mimika
EDITED BY INE
Security was increased in Timika, the capital city of Mimika District, by stepping up routine patrolling to offer a sense of security and safety to the local residents, Mimika Police Chief, Adjunct Sen. Coms. I Gusti Gede Era Adhinata stated here on Monday.
"The more intensified patrols at vulnerable areas are not merely conducted as precautionary measures ahead of the commemoration of KNPB's anniversary but they are also held to make the local community members sentient of the police’s presence," he explained.
Adhinata remarked that the KNPB had been striving to counter the spread of an ideology running counter to the basic principles of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. As a result, the police officers will take stern actions against its members and loyalists.
"We are taking stern actions against them if they really violate Indonesia's laws," he noted, adding that the National Police and Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) have continued to monitor the moves of armed Papuan rebels in the areas of Tembagapura District.
On October 13, taking into account the real threats posed by armed Papuan separatists, Papua Police Chief Inspector General Paulus Waterpauw evaluated the readiness of members of the police's mobile brigade unit at the Mimika police precinct.
Waterpauw warned the police personnel there to remain vigilant. In October, Waterpauw and Commander of the XVII Cenderawasih Regional Military Command Major General Herman Assaribab had also paid a visit to Tembagapura District whose areas had been used as a mining site by gold and copper mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia for decades.
The visit was made to evaluate the readiness of police and military personnel tasked with defending and securing the areas, Waterpauw explained.
Over 800 personnel of the Police Mobile Brigade joined the Amole Task Force unit. They are backed by the Nemangkawai Task Force unit, he remarked, adding that he lauded the dedication of personnel stationed in the mining areas.
The presence of police and military personnel in risky areas focused on maintaining security and peace, he added. Related news: Stay alert, Papua police chief warns Mimika policemen
Related news: Police interrogate 15 Papuan youngsters in Mimika
EDITED BY INE
Reporter: Evarianus S, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Editor: Suharto
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2) Brisbane priest urges more help for West Papuans in exile By Matt Emerick,
18 November 2019
Brisbane priest Fr Gerry Hefferan meets with West Papuans who are living in shanty towns as stateless refugees in Papua New Guinea. Image: Supplied.
A high-level Australian Catholic delegation has met with former Manus Island asylum seekers and refugees now in Port Moresby, and heard shocking stories of their detention.
“It was shameful to hear how our government has treated them on Manus Island and how some of them would feel safer in some totalitarian prison back home rather than what they had been subjected to,” Brisbane priest and delegation member Fr Gerry Hefferan said.
Fr Hefferan, parish priest at St Joseph’s and St Anthony’s, Bracken Ridge, also met with West Papuans who recently fled violence across the border, and now live in squalid camps in the Papua New Guinea capital.
“The water just drains in between the shacks on the dirt, there is one toilet for 50 families,” he said, pinpointing dysentery and malaria as the main health concerns.
He said there were about 14,000 West Papuans scattered in camps in Port Moresby and along the border region with Indonesia.
The Catholic Church in PNG and Caritas support the West Papuans, but greater funding from Australia was needed.
“We need to be there to help these West Papuans in exile, particularly those who are now stateless,” Fr Hefferan said.
Chairman of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Commission for Social Justice Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long headed the delegation that heard from asylum seekers including about 120 former Manus detainees transferred to Port Moresby in August.
“The Catholic Church in Australia and PNG have both previously called for a durable solution for those who have been taken by the Australian Government to PNG for processing,” Bishop Long said.
“Our visit has affirmed the necessity and urgency of finding this solution for all cohorts.”
Some of the former Manus detainees, amongst a larger group of about 320 asylum seekers, are being held in Port Moresby’s Bomana Prison complex.
Others are in guesthouses and lodgings until their cases are dealt with.
About 70 are on a pathway to resettlement in the United States and expect to fly out within weeks.
Another 25 or so are hoping for resettlement in Canada, under a private sponsorship scheme that costs $18,000 a person.
Another 10 have been approved for medical evacuation to Australia and are waiting anxiously to hear the fate of medevac laws, which the Australian Government hopes to repeal.
Inside Bomana Prison, Fr Hefferan said asylum seekers were kept in isolation and subjected to “mind games” that “really attack the spirit of the person”.
“Our delegation was able to speak to people recently released from Bomana – and you get released if you sign a paper that you’ll go back home,” he said.
“And one of the them (from the Bomana prison) thought it would be better in jail back in Iran, and whatever they do to him there, rather than what he had to do to survive in Bomana – so that’s why he signed the letter.”
Another delegation member Carolina Gottardo, who is co-convenor of the Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum and director of Jesuit Refugee Service, said the situation around Bomana Prison “was highly alarming”.
“We were told that many men indefinitely detained in Bomana were experiencing conditions equivalent to torture – including not getting basic food and losing weight, being unable to contact family members and having no access to medication, legal advice or visitors,” she said.
“These men need to be out of Bomana as a matter of urgency.”
Promoter of Justice and Peace from the Sydney Archdiocese Fr Peter Smith said the group urged the Federal Government to take up New Zealand’s offer to resettle 150 refugees.
“We met with a number of men who have been determined as refugees but do not have secure futures – this could be resolved by Australia working with the New Zealand Government for a solution,” he said.
“We met with individuals who were accepted by the USA and Canada, through private sponsorship, for resettlement.
“The joyful difference in the demeanour of these people to the others who have no secure future at this stage was striking.”
The Australian delegation affirmed support for laws allowing the medical evacuation of refugees in offshore detention so they could be treated in Australia.
The Morrison Government was attempting to repeal medevac legislation even though doctors and refugee support groups backed the legislation.
“Why can’t medical opinion be the priority rather than political decisions and games and people voting in loyalty to their party, rather than (loyalty) to human rights issues,” Fr Hefferan said.
By Matt Emerick. Reproduced with permission from The Catholic Leader, the online news publication of the Archdiocese of Brisbane.
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3) Papua provincial govt increases investment through infrastructure
4 hours ago
Jayapura (ANTARA) - The Papua Provincial Government (Pemprov) continues to increase investment through massive infrastructure development in its region.
Assistant for the Economy and People's Welfare of the Regional Secretariat of Papua Province, Muhammad Musaad, told ANTARA in Jayapura on Monday that this could be seen from the construction of several infrastructure projects, such as the Youtefa Bridge, which was expected to develop the economy in its sorrounding areas.
"Papua will not be able to develop if there is no investment, so we hope that some officials in the central government from Papua can now more clearly see the needs of this region," he said.
According to Musaad, in addition to private investment, his party expects investment from the ranks of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which must develop a pattern from government-to-government, and not from business-to-business.
"The reason is because Papua still needs qualified infrastructure, so that its competitiveness can be improved," he said.
Related news: West Papua safe for investment: Governor
He explained that it was undeniable that now the investment costs in Papua are still relatively expensive, so investors are still considering whether to invest in Papua.
"So we hope that investors in the country can take a large role," he said.
Indonesia President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) earlier inaugurated the Youtefa Bridge, also called Holtekamp Bridge, in Papua Province’s capital city, Monday, the day Indonesians commemorated Youth Pledge Day.
"I am upbeat about this Youtefa Bridge being cared about and kept clean," President Jokowi remarked, while opening the 732-meter-long and 21-meter-wide bridge at 3:30 p.m. local time.
The president said he expects the bridge, whose construction began in 2015 and cost some Rp1.8 trillion, would help boost the province's economic development.
In the meantime, Deputy Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Wempi Wetipo had earlier stated that the construction of Youtefa Bridge is part of President Jokowi's commitment to speeding up infrastructure development in Papua Province.
Wetipo urged the people, especially those residing in Jayapura, to help in maintaining the bridge.
"Please take care of this bridge. Do not vandalize it again. This is proof of the president's commitment to us," he noted, adding that President Jokowi cares about the rapid development of infrastructure facilities in Papua.
Related news: BUMN minister considers investment in Papua
Assistant for the Economy and People's Welfare of the Regional Secretariat of Papua Province, Muhammad Musaad, told ANTARA in Jayapura on Monday that this could be seen from the construction of several infrastructure projects, such as the Youtefa Bridge, which was expected to develop the economy in its sorrounding areas.
"Papua will not be able to develop if there is no investment, so we hope that some officials in the central government from Papua can now more clearly see the needs of this region," he said.
According to Musaad, in addition to private investment, his party expects investment from the ranks of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which must develop a pattern from government-to-government, and not from business-to-business.
"The reason is because Papua still needs qualified infrastructure, so that its competitiveness can be improved," he said.
Related news: West Papua safe for investment: Governor
He explained that it was undeniable that now the investment costs in Papua are still relatively expensive, so investors are still considering whether to invest in Papua.
"So we hope that investors in the country can take a large role," he said.
Indonesia President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) earlier inaugurated the Youtefa Bridge, also called Holtekamp Bridge, in Papua Province’s capital city, Monday, the day Indonesians commemorated Youth Pledge Day.
"I am upbeat about this Youtefa Bridge being cared about and kept clean," President Jokowi remarked, while opening the 732-meter-long and 21-meter-wide bridge at 3:30 p.m. local time.
The president said he expects the bridge, whose construction began in 2015 and cost some Rp1.8 trillion, would help boost the province's economic development.
In the meantime, Deputy Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Wempi Wetipo had earlier stated that the construction of Youtefa Bridge is part of President Jokowi's commitment to speeding up infrastructure development in Papua Province.
Wetipo urged the people, especially those residing in Jayapura, to help in maintaining the bridge.
"Please take care of this bridge. Do not vandalize it again. This is proof of the president's commitment to us," he noted, adding that President Jokowi cares about the rapid development of infrastructure facilities in Papua.
Related news: BUMN minister considers investment in Papua
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