The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) has condemned the killing of two West Papuan demonstrators in the Yahukimo Regency on March 15.
Indonesian security forces killed the two demonstrators and wounded several more when they fired into the crowd of peaceful protesters numbering in the hundreds. The demonstrators had been protesting against the proposal to create new provinces in the occupied territory.
According to the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB), one of the shooting victims was 21-year-old Erson Weipa from the Mek tribe. Weipa was also involved in coordinating the demonstration. He died in Dekai hospital. The second shooting victim was 39-year-old Yakob Meklok. Three other protesters: Lucky Kobak (21), Anton Itlay (23) and Setti Kobak (22) are still in Dekai hospital in critical condition with police gunshot wounds. Another three protesters who were shot are still missing.
Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian has proposed dividing Papua into six provinces, Southwest Papua, West Papua, Central Papua, the Central Highlands, South Papua and Papua Tabi Saireri.
AWPA spokesperson Joe Collins said that “more provinces mean more security forces in each province, which will lead to more human rights abuses, more involvement of the security forces in resource extraction and — from Jakarta’s point of view — a case of divide and rule”.
West Papua is already one of the most militarised areas of the archipelago.
There have being ongoing protests against the proposal over the past week. On March 8, hundreds of Cendrawasih University students took to the streets of Jayapura in a rally.
On March 11, 90 Papuan students were arrested during a protest near the Presidential Palace complex in Central Jakarta. They were later released.
In Wamena, the capital of the Jayawijaya Regency, thousands took to the streets on March 10 protesting the proposed division.
It was also reported that a number of shops were burned during the protest in the Yahukimo regency.
According to the KNPB, at the time of writing, “thousands of masses of Yahukimo people still occupy the heart of Dekai, rejecting Otsus [enhanced special autonomy for Papua], the expansion of new autonomous regions in Papua, and demanding independence”.
Collins said, "it is tragic that nearly 60 years after Indonesia took over administration of West Papua from the United Nations in 1963, West Papuans are still being killed in peaceful rallies protesting against the injustice they suffer under Indonesian rule.
“It is also tragic that Canberra continues to ignore the ongoing human rights abuses committed by the Indonesian security forces in West Papua".
Footage of the police attack on the protest can be viewed on twitter.
Indigenous students from West Papua studying at universities across Aotearoa are defying an order from the Indonesian government to return home.
In January more than 40 students were told that Indonesia will no longer be funding autonomous West Papuan scholarships so they have to pack up and leave.
Laurens Ikinia of the Hubula tribe and fellow student Esniel Mirin of the Kimyal tribe, both from the central highland of West Papua, says they have been stripped of their dream for a brighter future.
“The government has terminated about 42 students here in Aotearoa, New Zealand who are the recipients of Papua Provincial Government scholarships and I am one of the students who was terminated and this is really worrying me,” Ikinia says.
Ikinia and Mirin have both been struggling to support themselves since the scholarship decision was made. Living costs are rising and tuition fees are high for overseas students here.
"What we are trying to do just to survive is do some part-time jobs as long as we can but, unfortunately, some students cannot work because of their visa conditions. I don't know how long it's gonna take us but that's what we are doing just to survive,” Ikinia says.
Seeking help
Mirin says he finds it hard to talk about the issue as he is not able to support himself and not able to work.
“I'm trying to communicate with my close friends from the campus or the churches I attend and they help me a lot,” he says.
"We are calling the Indonesian President Joko Widodo to respond to our request so in the future we can continue our programmes and success because this is kind of Indonesians trying to manipulate our education rights.”
The Indonesian embassy gave a written response to our request for comment, stating that the scholarships are wholly managed by Papua's democratically elected provincial government. The embassy also said:
"These students are part of a total of 593 students from Papua Province receiving the "Papua Special Autonomy Scholarship"... only those who have exceeded the allocated time of the scholarship and those who cannot meet the academic requirements are being recalled.
"The decision to repatriate certain students does not impact those students who remain on track with regards to their studies abroad.
"The assessment is also conducted to ensure other eligible students from Papua Province also obtain the same opportunity in pursuing their studies."
Not failing
The embassy also said it had tried to resolve various aspects of the issue including possible outstanding tuition and living fees.
But for students such as Ikinia the suggestion he's been sent home because he's failing, has no foundation.
“I came to New Zealand in 2016, I did my New Zealand language programme for five months and then I studied my international contemporary studies, bachelor programme, I studied in 2017 and then I finished in 2019 in three years and then I studied for my master's programme in 2020,” he says.
“I'm just about to finish and then they put my name in the list and then they claim that I'm not making any progress, which is baseless. This is something that we have written a letter to the government to clarify - the evidence that the government used to categorise all these 42 students not making progress.”
Ikinia is reaching out to institutions, organisations and communities for their support on behalf of the Papuan Students Association of Oceania.
“We humbly request the people of Aotearoa, New Zealand to open your arms to welcome us as a Pacific family. It's been a long, long time where West Papuans, indigenous peoples have not spoken about our education rights and we are calling for the sake of humanity.”
For more information, readers can visit the Papuan Students Association Oceania social media pages to learn how to offer support, including papuanstudents_oceania on Instagram, Papuan Students Association Oceania/PSAO on Facebook or email: papuanstudentsoceania@gmail.com.
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