1) Presidential office regrets Morning Star flag incident at Melbourne Consulate

2) Wenda’s actions politically inclined to claim international existence 

3) Cultural belief made hundreds of Nduga refugees rejecting the aid

4) Benny Wenda Says Ready to Talk with Jokowi over Papua

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https://www.indoleft.org/news/2020-12-04/presidential-office-regrets-morning-star-flag-incident-at-melbourne-consulate.html

1) Presidential office regrets Morning Star flag incident at Melbourne Consulate

CNN Indonesia – December 4, 2020

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Morning Star flag flying over Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne – December 1, 2020 (CNBC    Indonesia)

Jakarta – The Presidential Staff Office says it regrets the raising of the Morning Star flag – which is identified with Papuan independence – at the Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI) in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday December 1.

Presidential Staff Office deputy for political, legal, security and human rights affairs, Jaleswari Pramowardhani, insisted that the area in and around the Consulate General must be respected.

Pramowardhani, who is known by her friends as Dhani, pointed to the stipulations in the Geneva Convention on respect for foreign consulates and international legal customs.

"The host country, in this case Australia, has an obligation based on international law to maintain security in the area of the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia", said Pramowardhani on Friday December 4.

"Above all breaking in or infiltrating without authorisation. So the incident which occurred at the Melbourne KJRI cannot be justified and conflicts with international law", she added.

Earlier on Tuesday, a video of the Morning Star flag flying over the Melbourne Consulate General when viral on Twitter. The owner of the Twitter account @Tbuch2, Tim Buchanan, shared a video of six people standing on the Melbourne Consulate General's roof.

Two of them are holding a banner with a picture of the Morning Star flag with the message "Free West Papua", while four others held a Morning Star flag and a poster with the message, "TNI [Indonesian military] Out, Stop Killing Papua".

Pramowardhani has asked the Australian government to take a firmer stand so that a similar incidents do not reoccur.

This is not the first incident of its kind. In 2017 a Free Papua Organisation (OPM) sympathiser also managed to climb the wall surrounding the Melbourne Indonesian Consulate General and raise the Morning Star flag. (dmi/bmw)

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Bintang Kejora Berkibar di KJRI, KSP Sesalkan Sikap Australia".]

Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20201204101230-20-577882/bintang-kejora-berkibar-di-kjri-ksp-sesalkan-sikap-australia

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https://en.antaranews.com/news/163188/wendas-actions-politically-inclined-to-claim-international-existence

2) Wenda’s actions politically inclined to claim international existence 

 6 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) - United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) leader Benny Wenda declaring the formation of an interim government in West Papua was a political camouflage to assert existence globally, People's Consultative Assembly speaker Puan Maharani stated.

"The act is Benny Wenda's individual political quest to mark his existence on the international stage," Maharani noted in a statement in Jakarta, Saturday.

The speaker was vociferous in her condemnation of Wenda's actions that had increasingly transgressed into provoking the separatist movement in Papua. To this end, Maharani sought more concrete actions from the Indonesian government.

"We have to protect every inch of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). Do not give room to separatism and provocation that divides the nation," she emphasized.

Maharani further claimed that Wenda's acts were baseless and not supported by the people of Papua.

In this case, the Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, must actively conduct an international campaign on the success of development in Papua and report that conditions in Papua continue to remain conducive.

Furthermore, the government must continue to work in favor of the welfare of Papuans and for humanity. Policies, such as one price for fuel in Papua, must be continued in order to ensure that the Papuan people can avail a reasonable price as their fellow Indonesians in other regions.

"The Special Autonomy Fund is followed by a rigorous evaluation aimed at the welfare of Papuans," she stated.
 

EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Fathur Rochman/Aria Cindyara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

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https://en.jubi.co.id/cultural-belief-made-hundreds-of-nduga-refugees-rejecting-the-aid/

3) Cultural belief made hundreds of Nduga refugees rejecting the aid

 News Desk December 4, 2020 7:23 am

Wamena, Jubi – Roga Kogeya, a volunteer for Nduga refugees, said hundreds of Nduga people settling in some refugee camps in Jayawijaya Regency, Papua, have rejected aid from different groups due to their cultural belief.

“There are about twenty householders spread in twenty camps (in Jayawijaya) refusing aid because they wanted to hold their culture,” Kogeya told Jubi on Monday afternoon (30/11/2020).

According to the local culture, he explained, eating food from those who considered enemies during the war are prohibited for Nduga people. They believed they would get a hardship if they violate it.

“So far, they survived by only consuming taros or sweet potatoes they planted, which only cook simply, boiled or roasted,” he said.

Moreover, Nduga people are not only rejecting food, clothes or health services, but some of them are also not allowing volunteers to collect their data. Consequently, the volunteers have no precise data on the number of householders or refugees who refused aid.

“They also prohibited us (volunteers) from entering their camp to collect data or deliver aid. But they allow us to come as a family who comes to visit, see and ask for their condition,” he said.

Another volunteer Tori Wandikbo said that Nduga people at refugee camps in Jayawijaya are also cautious to those who want to meet them. Although some refugees do not reject the assistance, the volunteer team does not allow random people entering the refugee camps.

“If an (aid) team wants to visit (the refugee camps), we are not saying ‘no’, but we want them to give us prior notice,” said Wandikbo.

It is because the volunteers wanted to confirm their intention, whether they purely come for helping refugees or for another purpose,” he said.

“We want to ensure that those who come are volunteers who want to help. We only want to protect the refugees,” he said.

Moreover, he said that the volunteer team does not want the Nduga refugees to become victims many times. These refugees have left their village for the last two years because of the security issue, while in the refugee camps, they continue to become victims. Different teams that met refugees have promised many things but no realisation.

“We don’t want them subjected to a project of interest of certain groups of people. They are already suffering, (we) cannot let anyone take advantage of their situation,” he said. (*)

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https://en.tempo.co/read/1411511/benny-wenda-says-ready-to-talk-with-jokowi-over-papua

4) Benny Wenda Says Ready to Talk with Jokowi over Papua

Translator: 

Dewi Elvia Muthiariny

 

Editor: 

Laila Afifa

4 December 2020 14:13 WIB

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda, said he is ready to discuss with President Joko Jokowi Widodo over Papua and West Papua issues. Benny recently declared himself as the interim president of the provisional government of West Papua.

“I am ready to sit down with President Widodo, state-to-state, and agree on a process for ending this conflict once and for all, through an internationally-mediated mechanism,” said Benny in a written statement received by Tempo on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020.

Benny stated that West Papuan must decide and his side is willing to work on agreements for an independence referendum. 

He further noted that there is no time for military operations in Papua and demanded the Indonesian government open access for the UN High Commissioners to visit and observe the situation in Papua.

“President (Jokowi) must end martial law in West Papua and sit down to talk about this issue,” Benny said.

The ULMWP on December 1, 2020, declared a provisional government within Indonesia's sovereign territory, aiming to mobilize people in West Papua and Papua. Benny who claimed himself as the interim president said the goal was to realize a referendum towards independence.

Indonesia rejected Benny Wenda’s declaration. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud Md, considered the maneuver as treason.

Read: Benny Wenda's West Papua Declaration; MPR: Govt Must Summon British Ambassador

EGI ADYATAMA

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