Cause of concern – West Papua

 Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)

 

Cause of concern – West Papua

 

Statement.   27 April 2021.   

 

The Australia West Papua Association is becoming concerned about a number of statements from the Indonesian President, politicians and security force personal in relation to the death of Brig. Gen.  Gusti Putu Danny in West Papua. 

 

He was shot and died from his wounds while travelling with other officials and security forces personal near Dambet Village, Beoga Sub-district, Puncak District, on Sunday at 3:50 p.m. local time.

 

Brig. Gen. Gusti Putu Danny was head of Papua’s Intelligence Agency.

 

The Indonesia’s president in a televised statement has ordered a crackdown saying, “I have ordered the military and police chiefs to pursue and arrest members of the armed criminal group.” 

 

At a press conference at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday the President said “I also order the Indonesian Military and the National Police to chase and arrest all members of the armed criminal groups." 

 

The Indonesian media also reported that Bambang Soesatyo, chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), urged the government to deploy forces at full strength to crush the Papuan rebellion. “Destroy them first. We will discuss human rights matters later.”

 

 

The chief of TNI’s information centre, Major General Achmad Riad, said the Indonesian Military (TNI) is ready to assist the National Police in arresting all members of armed separatist and terrorist groups operating in Papua province,

 

Joe Collins of AWPA said, “these statements from the president and government officials has the potential to cause an escalation of violence in Papua leading to the security forces conducting military sweeps in the area”. 

and 

" we all know what happens when the Indonesian military undertake security operations, houses get burnt, livestock gets killed, gardens destroyed and people literally flee into the jungle where they face starvation”. 

 

We only have to look at what happened in the Nduga regency during security operations which caused thousand of West Papuan to flee becoming internal refugees in their own country.

 

It has been reported that approximately 5000 people live in the refugee camps, including 700 children.

Extract from “Invisible victims of the Papua conflict: the Nduga Regency refugees” 

IDPs in Nduga are currently living in poor conditions. A volunteer from Baku Bantu Foundation stated that the IDPs' meals in the camp consist only of yams, without additional side dishes to provide further nutrients. As the result, many of the IDPs experience malnutrition---a condition that is especially dangerous to vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, small children, and people with chronic medical conditions. Additionally, the IDPs also suffered from inadequate sanitation, which causes health problems such as diarrhea and skin disease. The combination of malnutrition, poor sanitation, and lack of medical attention also compromise IDPs' overall immune systems, which leads to vulnerability to tropical diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Since the refugee camps were first established in 2018, approximately 400 refugees have died in various camps in Nduga.

https://reliefweb.int/report/indonesia/invisible-victims-papua-conflict-nduga-regency-refugees

 

Collins said, “
Many reports have pointed out that aggressive security approaches do not work in West Papua and instead of makingstatements that could cause an escalation of violence in West Papua, the Indonesian President should order his military to return to barracks as a way of easing tension and saving lives”.

 

The Australian Government should also be raising concerns about the situation in West Papua and rethink its ties with the Indonesian military.

Ends.

 

 

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