2) International Conflict in West Papua
3) Plight of Maybrat displaced people persists: Urgent attention needed for health, education, and housing ——————————————————————
1) Papua Police Claims Susi Air's Pilot Hostage Location Constantly Moves
Translator Najla Nur Fauziyah Editor Mahinda Arkyasa
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of Papua Regional Police Department Inspector General of Police Mathius Fakhiri said that the location of Susi Air's pilot who was held hostage is situated in a nearly inaccessible area. "The leader of OPM Egianus Kogoya also constantly moves the hostage location in Nduga and Lanny Jaya, causing the police to have difficulty approaching the location. In addition, OPM always guards the hostage," said Mathius in Jayapura on Monday, August 7, 2023.
Fakhiri said the government is still prioritizing negotiation and letting the local public figure, religious figure, and the hostage's family persuade Egianus to release the hostage safely.
The hostage, Captain Phillips Mark Mehrtens, is a Susi Air pilot. He's been held hostage since February 2023, after landing his plane in Paro, Nduga Regency, Highland Papua.
Information revealed that the Nduga Regent has met with Egianus, but the result of the meeting has yet to be disclosed. "We are still waiting for further information related to the meeting with Egianus' group," he said.
Fakhiri hopes that Egianus Kogoya is willing to release the hostage safely and without lacking anything. "We are willing to negotiate, but asking for independence and weapons is off-limit," said Fakhiri.
ANTARA
https://www.independent.com/2023/08/07/international-conflict-in-west-papua/
2) International Conflict in West Papua
Freedom Fighters Hold a New Zealand Pilot Captive
By Craig Harris
Mon Aug 07, 2023 | 12:58pm
How do you get world attention for a cause to help save your culture? The freedom fighters of West Papua are asking that very question.
On February 7, 2023, 37-year-old Phil Mehrtens, a New Zealand pilot, was kidnapped by the West Papua Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Organization. Spokesperson for the separatists Sebby Sambom said the fighters, led by group commander Egianus Kogoya, set fire to the plane and seized its pilot as part of their struggle for independence after it landed in Nduga, a mountainous district.
The plane, operated by Indonesian aviation company Susi Air, was carrying about 990 pounds of supplies from an airport in Timika, a mining town in Papua.
Phil Mehrtens is far from the first hostage to be taken. Nearly three decades ago in the neighboring district of Mapenduma Papuan, freedom fighters kidnapped a group of environmental researchers from Europe and held them for five months. Leader of the expedition, British student Daniel Start, wrote a book documenting the ordeal called The Open Cage.
The history of the island’s conflict can be traced back to 1962 when West Papua was a colony of the Dutch. At that time the U.S. facilitated what became known as the New York Agreement, which handed West Papua over to the United Nations and then to Indonesia. Since that time West Papuans have been subjected to violent human rights abuses, environmental and cultural dispossession, and mass killings under Indonesian rule as well as mass immigration policies.
Sambom said, “New Zealand, Australia, and America must be held accountable for what they have done in creating a genocide where at least 200,000 Papuans have been killed over the past sixty years.”
Mehrtens remains isolated along with 20 or so Freedom fighters within the jungles of Papua. Attempts by the Indonesian military have all failed to rescue Mehrtens. This latest kidnapping by the freedom fighters is a cry out to the world that no foreigners are safe in Papua. They say, “Our people have suffered far too long and these attempts to bring attention to our cause are a reminder that the outside world needs to understand our desperate situation in which so far all have turned a blind eye.”
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Jayapura, Jubi – In the two years following the attack by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) on the Military Post in Maybrat Regency’s Kisor, that resulted in the reported deaths of four Indonesian Military (TNI) members, a significant number of individuals who had evacuated from five districts within Maybrat ever since the incident continued to opt for staying in multiple refugee camps, situated both in Maybrat and the Sorong area.
The Maybrat Displaced People Care Civil Society Coalition, which has been conducting advocacy and assistance, in an online press conference on Thursday, August 3, 2023, revealed that until now the Maybrat displaced people still need serious attention and handling.
Heri Lobya of the Franciscan Papuan Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Secretariat (SKPKC) said that according to the data released by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on July 28, 2023, as many as 5,296 displaced people are still staying in camps, whereas 138 people died after the attack on the Kisor Military Post.
He explained that Maybrat displaced people need help, attention, and assistance from various parties because they live spread out in various areas such as in the forest, neighboring villages such as in the North Aifat area, as well as in Sorong District, South Sorong Regency, and Bintuni.
“They live in suffering and they face various difficulties from several aspects of life such as education, health, housing, and economy,” said Lobya.
“In terms of getting assistance from the government and schools, due to the problem of basic education data, children from villages who go to school in the city have difficulty getting assistance because the data is not synchronized,” he added.
From the health aspect, until now the displaced people often experience illness such as fever, ulcers, diarrhea, high blood pressure, sprained hands, eye pain, cholesterol, wet lungs, cough, respiratory tract problem, stroke, stomachache, sore knees, and mental health problems in pregnant women.
Recently, it has been difficult for them to get access to medical services due to lack of money for treatment. There are even pregnant women who have to struggle alone to give birth to their children in refugee camps without medical assistance.
The Maybrat displaced people are experiencing housing difficulties because they still have to live with several families in one house. Even in one family there can be seven to nine people.
Human rights advocate Yohanis Mambrasar said that in September it would be two years since the Kisor incident. “The Maybrat Regency, Provincial and Central governments have indeed done various things and provided aid. But there are also some things that have not been addressed thoroughly that then become a problem for the displaced people themselves, so they still need serious attention,” he said. (*)
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