1) The Australian left is known for backing Papuan independence – but it wasn’t always this way

2) Over 100 officials in Papua test positive for coronavirus

3) Limited health facilities leave Papua facing tough COVID-19 fight

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https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/the-australian-left-is-known-for-backing-papuan-independence-but-it-wasnt-always-this-way/

1) The Australian left is known for backing Papuan independence – but it wasn’t always this way

April 27, 2020

Dominique Tasevski Dominique Tasevski completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at the University of Melbourne. Her honours thesis examined CPA-PKI relations during the 1950s and 1960s and was awarded the Brian Fitzpatrick Prize for Best Honours Thesis in Australian History. She specialises in Australia-Indonesia relations and Indonesian history and politics. 

For nearly 60 years, successive Australian governments have supported Indonesia’s territorial claim to West Papua, while the Australian left has strongly backed the Papuan independence movement.

The Greens, Australia’s largest left-wing political party, strongly supports(link is external) West Papuan self-determination. The party has condemned(link is external)the actions of Indonesian authorities in the territory, including the 2019 crackdown in which more than 30 people were killed. (link is external)

In February, the party’s leader, Adam Bandt, and former leader Richard Di Natale, wore Morning Star flags on their lapels(link is external) during President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s address to the Australian federal parliament in a display of solidarity with Papuans.

These contemporary acts of solidarity, however, are not representative of the Australian political left’s historic position on West Papua. During the 1950s and most of the 1960s, the Australian left, then led by the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), categorically supported Indonesia’s claims to the territory.

Indonesia and West Papua were both part of the former Dutch East Indies. In 1949, the Dutch acknowledged Indonesian independence, but they continued to rule West Papua. Under the leadership of left-wing President Soekarno, Indonesia sought to annex West Papua.

From the early 1950s onwards, the Indonesian government claimed that the ongoing Dutch presence in West Papua constituted the continuation of colonialism. The Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), the then largest non-governing communist party in the world, supported Soekarno’s policy regarding what it described as the “liberation” of West Papua. The anti-imperialist rhetoric of both President Soekarno and the PKI resonated with the Australian left.

The CPA staunchly opposed Western colonialism and imperialism. In 1954, future Australian communist leader Laurie Aarons led the CPA’s first delegation to Indonesia, which was hosted by the PKI. After this trip, Australian communists began to closely follow the West Papua issue.

From December 1954, the CPA began to publicly express its support for Indonesia’s position, and, in so doing, the party adopted Indonesian government and PKI policy on West Papua. Tribune, the CPA’s national newspaper, even published material from a Soekarno government propaganda pamphlet, issued by the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, which articulated Indonesia’s claim to the territory.

The CPA consequently began to urge the government of Robert Menzies and the federal opposition to adopt the Indonesian policy on West Papua. The party asserted that the Dutch were ruthless imperialists and emphasised the need to maintain strong relations with Australia’s enormous neighbour to the north.

The CPA’s policy on West Papua reflected the position of the Soekarno government, the PKI and 1950s Indonesian anti-imperialist activists more broadly, as opposed to the outlook of pro-independence Papuans, who considered Indonesia’s absorption of the territory to itself be neo-colonialism.

The CPA’s policy also indicated that the party believed that the Menzies government should not alienate Indonesia over West Papua because of the need for a strong relationship with Australia’s largest neighbour. This attitude has also been shared by both Coalition and Labor Australian governments over recent years, much to the frustration of hard-line sections of the left. The CPA adopted this stance as it sought to strengthen its relationship with the PKI, which was a significant political force inside and outside Indonesia.

But the Australian government position, and indeed that of the federal opposition, was to support continued Dutch rule over West Papua because of concerns that Indonesia would attempt to annex the Australian colony of Eastern New Guinea, now known as Papua New Guinea.

In 1962, the Dutch relinquished their claims over West Papua and the Australian government consequently changed its policy regarding the territory. In 1963, Indonesia formally gained control of West Papua and many Papuans immediately resisted Indonesian rule. This was demonstrated by the creation of guerrilla organisation the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in 1965, although the Morning Star flag was banned by Soekarno’s government as early as 1963.

The Australian left, however, prioritised its desire to strengthen relations with the PKI, the third largest communist party in the world, over Papuans’ right to self-determination. The CPA even described West Papua as an “integral” and “inalienable” part of Indonesia. The CPA’s policy on West Papua did not go unnoticed by the PKI leadership and significantly contributed to the development of rapport between the Australian and Indonesian left.

The CPA-PKI relationship was underpinned by a shared political agenda. Documents signed between the parties repeatedly detail their opposition to colonialism. This colonialism, however, only referred to Western imperialism, rather than Indonesia’s policy towards West Papua, which could arguably be described as neo-colonialism.

The parties were thus united in their support of Indonesia’s claims to West Papua. However, the Australian left’s position on West Papua shifted dramatically soon after the fall of President Soekarno.

On 30 September 1965, seven senior members of the Indonesian military were killed. Under the leadership of General Soeharto, the Indonesian army blamed the PKI for the soldiers’ deaths and used the killings as a pretext(link is external) to crush the Indonesian left. From October 1965 to mid-1966, approximately 500,000 to one million Indonesians were killed. The PKI was destroyed.

By early 1966, Soekarno’s leftist regime had collapsed and was replaced by the anti-communist, authoritarian New Order regime. Soeharto’s violent intolerance of the left influenced a major change in CPA policy on West Papua. By 1969, the CPA was claiming that Soekarno’s demise forced Papuans and Indonesians into a struggle against Soeharto.

The distinction between Papuans and Indonesians was a notable reversal of the CPA’s earlier position. The party also recognised the anti-democratic nature of the so-called “Act of Free Choice”, the 1969 UN supervised ballot in which about 1,000 Papuans handpicked by Soeharto’s government were coerced to vote in favour of West Papua’s integration into Indonesia.

In a significant policy reversal, the CPA then begun to label Indonesia’s actions in West Papua as “neo-imperialist” and demanded that Australian anti-colonialists support Papuan independence activists. By the 1970s, the CPA began to support Papuan claims to self-determination.

The CPA’s actions indicate that the Australian leftist movement has had a problematic and contradictory position towards West Papua.

The left ignored the oppressive acts of the Soekarno regime in West Papua and only begun to express concern about the treatment of Papuans following the emergence of the anti-communist Soeharto regime.

Although the Greens are not the CPA’s direct ideological successor, they are the largest leftist party in Australia, and can thus be considered representative of the contemporary left’s general position on West Papua.

The position of the modern Australian political left, encapsulated by the displays of solidarity by Bandt and Di Natale earlier this year, contrasts starkly with the position of the CPA some 60 years earlier.

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https://en.antaranews.com/news/146944/over-100-officials-in-papua-test-positive-for-coronavirus

2) Over 100 officials in Papua test positive for coronavirus  

8 hours ago

Timika, Papua (ANTARA) - In a mass antibody rapid test conducted last week, 110 officials have tested positive for the coronavirus infection in Mimika District of Papua Province, the district chief said here today.

The officials are employed with the transportation office, regional disaster mitigation office, public order office, and the Mimika Baru police precinct, Mimika District chief Etinus Omaleng informed.

"Of the total 300 people (who were) tested for coronavirus using the antibody rapid test kits, 110 were found positive. The positive cases have been referred to the hospital for throat swab (tests), and their samples will be further examined by the health research and development office at a laboratory in Jayapura," he explained.

Following the identification of a new coronavirus cluster in the district, Omaleng said, he is planning to set up a quarantine facility for district officials who have tested positive in the rapid tests.

For emergency cases, the Mimika District administration is preparing an athlete dormitory (Wisma Atlet), which would be used as a quarantine facility for not only positive cases, but also patients awaiting test results.

However, the facility is currently equipped to serve fewer than 100 patients.

"It doesn't have enough beds, and 11 bedrooms have leaky roofs and no bathrooms. Therefore, we will repair and refurbish the place before it is used as a quarantine facility, and it will be able to serve more patients," he added.

Besides, the district administration is also planning to turn the Mimika Sports Complex and a Multi-Purpose Community Center in Kwamki subdistrict into quarantine centers.

Prior to the rapid test, the Mimika District administration had confirmed 41 positive cases and three deaths. Meanwhile, 15 of the total COVID-19 patients have recovered from the infection in the district. (INE)

Related news: Papua extends large-scale social restrictions until May 6
Related news: COVID-19 test results come back positive for 124 Papua residents

EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Evarianus Supar/Genta Tenri Ma
Editor: Suharto

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https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/27/limited-health-facilities-leave-papua-facing-tough-covid-19-fight.html

3) Limited health facilities leave Papua facing tough COVID-19 fight

Gemma Holliani Cahya

The Jakarta Post

Jakarta   /   Mon, April 27, 2020   /   09:09 am

“I know this might sound harsh for some people but this is the fact; if you do not want to die, do not come to Papua,” Silwanus Sumule, a doctor who works in Jayapura, said in a recent phone interview with The Jakarta Post.

Silwanus is also the spokesperson for the Papua COVID-19 response team.

When the first COVID-19 cases were detected in Indonesia, he knew right away that Papua was not ready to handle the highly infectious disease.

There are only seven pulmonologists and 73 ventilators in around 45 hospitals in the province, according to an official count. Papua also has a very limited supply of hazmat suits and only around 10,000 rapid test kits, at least 60,000 short of what is needed, according to Silwanus.

“We are not ready but we have to be ready with whatever resources we have because the enemy is already here. […] Even in normal circumstances, we have very limited medical infrastructure and a shortage of workers," he said.

Papua restricted entry into the nation's easternmost region, closing down airports and seaports in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 shortly after the province recorded its first two confirmed cases on March 22.

However, the number of cases has continued to increase with the local government struggling to contain the disease partly because of the difficulties tracing new cases with the limited supply of test kits and personal protection equipment (PPE). 

As of Sunday, Papua had recorded 141 confirmed cases and six deaths, according to the Health Ministry. All were imported cases brought by people who traveled back from Java and Sulawesi.

"So, please don’t come here, do not give us more new imported cases. Let us deal with what we have right now,” Silwanus said.

Read also: Papua restricts entry as concerns mount over lack of facilities to treat COVID-19

In stark contrast, the neighboring province of West Papua has recorded just 16 cases and one death.

However, Silwanus said the lower number of recorded infections in West Papua could also be a reflection of a lack of tracing and testing.

West Papua, according to Silwanus, did not even have a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test machine, leaving it heavily dependent on Jakarta to process both rapid and PCR tests.

Papua, on the other hand, has one machine in Jayapura.

Another issue is that all major hospitals in Papua are located in big cities. With its challenging geographical terrain and lack of healthcare facilities, there are serious concerns over how people in the highlands can mitigate the outbreak once the virus reaches them.

Some cases have been found in several of Papua's remote regions, including one confirmed case in Central Mamberamo regency in the Pegunungan Tengah mountain range and one in Wamena, a city in the Baliem Valley.

“That means the virus has advanced to several areas in the highlands, but we will not give up that easy. We will try to focus on tracing contacts of these cases. We have recorded 130 contacts of the case in Mamberamo,” Silwanus said. “If the virus infected more people in the remote highlands, it would be a serious problem for us.”

Around four weeks ago, Freddy Edowai, 32, a civil servant working in Deiyai regency, also located in the Pegunungan Tengah region, traveled some 130 kilometers to Nabire to visit his wife and child.

He could not return to Deiyai because the Nabire administration had enforced a lockdown and closed the roads connecting the regencies. Deiyai and other remote regencies in Papua, such as Paniai, Intan Jaya and Dogiyai, have also carried out similar measures.

“I think closing the roads is our best option to prevent the virus from spreading to rural areas,” Freddy said. “People can help authorities by staying at home.”

Having grown up in Deiyai, he said the regency had long struggled with access to clean water and basic health care.

Read also: Jokowi moves Papua's 2020 National Games to next year

In Nabire, meanwhile, three confirmed cases have been recorded and authorities are conducting rapid tests on dozens of people under surveillance (ODP).

“We are really working with limited resources. The hazmat suits we have are only enough for the next couple of days,” Frans Sayori, the spokesperson for the Nabire COVID-19 response team, said recently.

Nabire Regional General Hospital is now a referral hospital for COVID-19 that covers at least four other regencies in remote mountain areas.

A number of medical workers have decided to spend their own money to purchase boots, goggles and even raincoats to protect themselves.

“My fellow medical workers asked me to conduct tests on them because they are at higher risk as they are in close contact with confirmed patients and ODPs, but we do not have enough rapid test kits. I have to use them for the ODPs first,” Frans said.

The restrictions on entry into the province have hindered aid distribution in Nabire.

“Some individuals and organizations have told us that they wanted to send help to us, like hazmat suits, but it was hard to reach us," Frans said. “It is understandable to lock down the area. But I hope there will be solutions for aid distribution. Please help us so it can arrive in Nabire."

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases in Mimika regency has gradually surpassed the number recorded in Jayapura city and Jayapura regency, two areas that were hit the hardest at the beginning of the outbreak.

As of Sunday, 41 cases and three deaths had been recorded in Mimika, followed by Jayapura city with 39 cases and three deaths and Jayapura regency with 29 cases and one death, according to the Papua COVID-19 response team. The provincial death toll, however, differed from the Health Ministry’s count.

John Giyai, 41, a resident of Mimika's capital Timika, has stayed at home for a month and not seen his family in Asmat, Papua. He has tried his best to maintain personal hygiene and avoid contracting the disease while in self-isolation.

“If I get infected, I think my chances of surviving are very thin because our health facilities are not ready for this,” John said.

“Authorities said we have to clean up with clean water, but I know there are many people [in Timika] who do not have access to clean water," he said. "They told us to wear masks, but masks disappeared in early March in Timika."

A lack of information from the local government has left people unaware of the threat posed by COVID-19, with John saying he had noticed that some of his neighbors were continuing to hang out in groups.

Read also: 'Political prisoners' turn to UN amid COVID-19 threat

While every region in Indonesia has said it was not ready for the pandemic, Papua is among the most vulnerable provinces.

At 32.8 percent, it has one of the highest rates of stunting in the country, according to the 2018 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas), an indication of micronutrient deficiencies and insufficient hygiene.

Statistics Indonesia data from 2019 also showed that Papua had the highest poverty rate in Indonesia at 27.53 percent.

The COVID-19 disease emerged in Papua not long after a deadly outbreak of communal violence occurred late last year, which observers said could worsen the handling of the outbreak.

A recent report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) found there was still tension and that many native Papuans portrayed  the virus as being brought in by non-native migrants and the military, adding to the hostilities and suspicions. IPAC recommended that the government “support the provincial government in its [COVID-19] lockdown efforts, while ensuring unimpeded delivery of humanitarian supplies”.

If you want to help in the fight against COVID-19, we have compiled an up-to-date list of community initiatives designed to aid medical workers and low-income people in this article. Link: [UPDATED] Anti-COVID-19 initiatives: Helping Indonesia fight the outbreak

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