2) Prabowo's Free Nutritious Meals Not Yet Implemented in Papua, Here's Why
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1) Plea to Indonesia's President to stop human rights abuses in West Papua
about 1 hour ago
Caleb Fotheringham,
RNZ Pacific Journalist
The international advocacy group, Human Rights watch, has put out a plea to Indonesia's President to stop human rights abuses in West Papua.
President Prabowo Subianto has just completed 100 days in the job.
"We basically want President Prabowo to end the decades of racism, discrimination, intimidation, violence against indigenous Papuans," Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono said.
"We want the Indonesian government to respect their rights, to respect their environment, because many of their lands, forests, waters are being polluted, are being destroyed."
Harsono said "let's hope for the best" when asked if he thought the President would address human rights abuses in West Papua.
He said Subianto should decriminalise the use of the morning star, which is considered a symbol of West Papua's struggle for independence.
"It will immediately reduce so much tension in West Papua."
The morning star was declared as a national flag in 1961, and every 1 December, the flag is raised by people across the world in support of West Papuans, but raising it is strictly barred by the Indonesian authorities.
Harsono pointed to former President Abdurrahman Wahid who decriminalised the flying the morning star flag.
Wahid is reported to have approved the use of the flag as a form of tribal identity, provided that the morning star flag was placed lower than the Indonesian flag.
"Many Papuans told me that it was the most peaceful period in their history, just by decriminalising the morning star.
"The morning star can be flown along with the Indonesian flag."
Harsono said "narrow mindedness" could hold the President back from decriminalising the morning star flag symbol.
"Many Indonesians see danger behind the morning star flag. Many Indonesians are paranoid about seeing the so called, 'separatist flag'."
The organisation is also asking for the government to lift restrictions on international rights monitors and foreign journalists from visiting the region.
As well as granting amnesty to Papuans involved in pro-independence movements.
Indonesia assessing policies
A spokesperson for Indonesia's embassy in Wellington said the Subianto government is "conducting some assessment regarding policies and its implementation for the region of Papua".
They said this includes the morning star flag, visitation to Papua for foreign nationals and the amnesty proposal.
The spokesperson said Indonesia is assessing the use of the morning star flag, "in regard to cultural symbol of Papuans and its use not as a symbol of sovereignty apart from Indonesia".
"As for the visitation of foreign nationals, the main concern is the safety of the visit, and how to implement all the necessary security measures to avoid certain experiences that could renegades the actual points of such visits," they said.
"Indonesia is currently working with the Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to review their implementation procedures, and taking into account Indonesian military's vast experiences on peace-keeping missions and its contributions across the globe."
They said the government was also in the process of assessing the amnesty process.
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2) Prabowo's Free Nutritious Meals Not Yet Implemented in Papua, Here's Why
Reporter Dian Rahma Fika February 4, 2025 | 12:59 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Dadan Hindayana revealed the main reasons why the free nutritious meal program (MBG) run by President Prabowo Subianto's government has not yet reached the Papua region. Dadan said the implementation of the free nutritious meal program was influenced by three essential things, one of which was not owned by the Papua region.
"There are three important things in this program. One, budget. Two, human resources. Three, infrastructure. The budget is complete. Human resources are there. Infrastructure is not yet," said Dadan when met after a working meeting with Commission IX on Monday evening, February 3, 2024. Currently, Dadan claims the government is working to ensure that Papua and Central Papua immediately receive the benefits of MBG.
Dadan said the two regions are among the priorities. The government's efforts, said Dadan, to accelerate the achievement of the MBG target are carried out by adding kitchens and cross-sector cooperation. Dadan is targeting 1.5 million people to enjoy free nutritious meals by mid-February. This follows the plan to add around 238 nutrition fulfillment service units (SPPG) in the same month
Meanwhile, as of February 3, 2025, the realization of MBG recipients was 730,000 people with the number of SPPGs reaching 245 spread across 34 provinces in Indonesia. Dadan said that of the target of MBG beneficiaries of 82.9 million people per 2025, 0.8 percent had been achieved.
"If later in mid-February it is 1.5 percent. That means it is 98.5 percent short. There are still many opportunities. So the community does not need to worry about missing out on this program because our program is only 0.8 percent," said Dadan.
The Bogor Agricultural Institute lecturer also said that the government will invite several state institutions and religious organizations to cooperate in order to accelerate the achievement of MBG. The institutions mentioned by Dadan include the Indonesian Police, the Indonesian National Army (TNI), the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), then Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah.
On the same occasion, Dadan ensured that BGN would maximize the absorption of the State Budget of Rp71 trillion. He was reluctant to comment on the continuation of the discourse on adding Rp100 trillion in the free nutritious meal funds that he had previously proposed.
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