3) Good art, good food and a chance to do good in West Papua
As a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) scholar, I follow the critical scholarship of Noenoe Silva on translating Indigenous words and phrases into the English language. In her groundbreaking work, Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism, Silva decides not to italicize words in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) to “resist making the native tongue appear foreign in writing produced in and about a native land and people.” For this reason, I choose not to italicize words from the many Indigenous languages of Papuans and Alifuru.
Introduction
In October 2017, Benny Wenda—spokesperson of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP)—submitted the West Papuan People’s Petition to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization. The petition, signed by over 1.8 million Papuans, called for a plebiscite on self-determination in West Papua, a demand that has echoed since Indonesia’s invasion of the island in 1961. Wenda, in a speech delivered at the UN in New York, mobilized the language of historic injustice, mass violence, and grievance inflicted on Indigenous West Papuans to justify the petition and its demands for Papuan self-determination:
“Today, we hand over the bones of the people of West Papua to the United Nations and the world. After decades of suffering, decades of genocide, decades of occupation, today we open up the voice of the West Papuan people which lives inside this petition.”
Seven years prior, Alexander Manuputty—then-executive chairman of the in-exile Republik Maluku Selatan (RMS)—submitted a petition to the UN Commission on Human Rights, demanding a plebiscite for the South Malukan people. Declaring that Indonesia was actively “annihilating the Moluccan people,” the petition situated Malukan calls for independence within a broader history of human rights violations perpetrated by the Indonesian government in the islands. In addition to their calls for a plebiscite, Manuputty requested that South Maluku be placed under UN trusteeship and that a UN-sponsored investigation of Indonesian repression in South Maluku be initiated.
While neither Wenda nor Manuputty’s petitions would gain traction on the international stage, contemporary calls for West Papuan and Malukan independence extend a longer history of self-determination movements in the occupied territories of Indonesia. Since Indonesian independence, self-determination movements in both West Papua and the Maluku Islands have appealed to identity as a mobilizing factor in their demands. West Papuan self-determination activists, however, have been more successful in mobilizing international support for their calls, through inclusion in a variety of international political forums and statements of solidarity issued by seven UN member states. By contrast, the Malukan independence cause has gone largely unrecognized in international forums, with the exception of some organizations advocating for Indigenous Alifuru rights at the UN. Despite a shared history and political present of colonization by the Indonesian state, this divergence in the outcome of West Papuan and Malukan independence calls raises several questions about mobilization tactics for self-determination: What strategies for collective action accounted for the differences in outcome between West Papuan and Malukan calls for self-determination? How did deployments of identity in these independence movements shape their ability to mobilize support both within and beyond their borders? How did these framing strategies impact the forms of repression exacted by the Indonesian state?
In this paper, I argue that independence movements in West Papua and South Maluku primarily diverge through their framings of identity. My findings suggest that West Papuan ascriptions to Melanesian and global Black identities enable a more defined claim to participation in international institutions and recognition by decolonizing states across the Third World, whereas South Malukan ascriptions to a Malukan Christian identity could not engage with such claims. I contend that the Indonesian state contests these divergent framings of identity through discourses of sovereignty and multiculturalism, a repression strategy that sought to characterize Papuan and Malukan claims as conflicts internal to Indonesia.
To situate this comparative analysis of independence movements in the occupied territories of Indonesia, this paper begins with an overview of the literature on ethnic conflict and self-determination. I then provide an overview of both cases, focusing on the post-World War II history of self-determination movements in West Papua and the Maluku Islands. By engaging with the digital archives of West Papuan and South Malukan independence organizations, United Nations documents, and semi-structured interviews with Alifuru community members from the Maluku Islands, I compare discourses of identity in both self-determination cases and their ability to mobilize external support in the international community. With these divergent and overlapping identity framings as a backdrop, I engage the Melanesian Culture and Arts Festival (MACFEST) as a limited site of Indonesian repression through the language and aesthetics of multicultural inclusion. At its core, this essay contributes to a growing literature that seriously considers the impact of identity politics on self-determination movements in securing internal and external support for, while generating state repression against, Indigenous claims to land and governance.
Jayapura, Jubi – Deputy Speaker IV of the Central Papua Legislative Council (DPR Papua Tengah, John NR Gobai, has alleged attempts to manufacture tensions and perpetuate a cycle of violence in Paniai regency, Central Papua province.
Gobai made the statement in response to the recent deployment of additional non-organic Indonesian Military (TNI) and Marine Corps personnel to Paniai regency.
He said the policy had further inflamed tensions in Paniai and created an increasingly unsafe environment for local communities.
“The situation in Paniai today can be described as an attempt to create a new situation on the ground, following the end of operation in Puncak Jaya, Puncak and Intan Jaya regencies,” Gobai told Jubi via a messanging application on Tuesday night (3 November 2026).
He said Paniai had previously been relatively peaceful, despite the presence of various groups that the Indonesian military refers to as leftist groups or pro-independence movement.
According to Gobai, tensions began to emerge in 2011, when a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police unit from Kelapa Dua, operating under the codename Operation Tumpas Matoa, arrived in Paniai to dismantle a Free Papua Movement (OPM) base in Eduda.
“For several months, we have been making various request to the central government to withdraw non-organic troops from Paniai, as their presence could have serious consequences for local communities if armed clashes, pursuit operations or similar activities occur,” he said.
Gobai said that continuing such patterns of violence would only perpetuate the cycle of violence in Papua, particularly in Paniai.
“Who will take responsibility for feeding the people who are forced to flee when armed clashes or pursuit operations occur? Throughout history, neither security forces nor the OPM have ever provided food for those displaced,” he said.
Gobai said defending the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) with guns and ammunition was an outdated approach that the central government should reconsider.
He said the way to maintain Indonesia’s sovereignty in Papua was through genuine development, giving Papuans opportunities to participate in government, supporting their economic activities and properly empowering local communities.
For the sake of residents’ safety and peace of mind, Gobai called on security personnel in Paniai to withdraw from villages and return to their respective posts in Enarotali.
“The presence of security personnel in Tuguwai and surrounding areas makes residents feel uncomfortable and unsafe in their own villages,” Gobai said. (*)
3) Good art, good food and a chance to do good in West Papua
Some 3,600 kilometres from the Illawarra lies the central highlands of West Papua, a remote terrain filled with steep, lush escarpments much like our own.
In global terms, we’re practically neighbours. Yet unlike our own peaceful setting, the communities who live amongst these West Papuan mountains have endured decades of displacement and conflict due to military operations on their land.
A local fundraiser is bringing our Illawarra community closer to the resilient communities of Papua and highlighting the work of a remarkable woman, Rode Wanimbo.
Dozens of Illawarra artists have rallied to create postcard-sized art responding to the theme of ‘Healing’, to be sold over the month of November.
All proceeds from the artworks will fund the work of West Papuan peace activist Rode Wanimbo, herself from the central highlands of Papua.
Rode and her team travel to remote Papuan communities displaced by conflict, providing basic medical supplies, women’s sanitary products, fresh water and educational materials for vulnerable women and children.
These supplies pave the way for Rode’s groundbreaking healing work. She gathers women who have been affected by trauma in these remote communities, using storytelling and oral testimony to help them tell their stories openly, often for the first time. Through powerful exercises, the groups of women build resilience in each other, their families and communities.
Human Rights Watch estimates that just this year at least 100,000 Papuans in these regions have left their homes following at times indiscriminate Indonesian military attacks using drones and airstrikes.
The fundraiser’s opening night at The Servo in Port Kembla on October 29 was a resounding success, with the majority of the artworks sold, assisted by the University of Wollongong’s Future of Rights Centre.
The remaining artworks are now available for purchase at Balinese Spice Magic restaurant in Wollongong, which is celebrating Papuan food and culture for the month of November.
The restaurant has added two special Papuan dishes to the menu, and proceeds from these dishes will also be donated to Rode’s work in Papua.
To make a direct donation to the fundraiser, contact Cammi Webb-Gannon at camellia@uow.edu.au
Jayapura, Jubi – Unidentified individuals have damaged and burned a black cross erected by the Kamuyend clan as a traditional prohibition marker, or sasi, in Nakias village, Ngguti district, Merauke regency, South Papua province. The cross was destroyed and burned on Sunday (1 November 2026).
The Kamuyend clan erected the sasi on their customary land as an act of protection against what they described as arbitrary actions by the Indonesia government through Merauke Regent’s Decree No. 200.3.3.3/1105/2025, which approved the construction of a 135-kilometre road through their customary territory.
Merauke Solidarity said unidentified individuals had removed and burned the black cross erected by the Kamuyend clan on their customary land and forest, which they said had been seized and forcibly cleared.
The group suspects the removal and burning of the cross were part of a broader pattern of violence and intimidation targeting the Kamuyend Indigenous community.
This follows the clan’s firm opposition to relinquishing its customary land rights for the National Strategic Project (PSN).
A similar incident occurred on 3 March 2026, when a cross erected by the Kamuyend clan was removed. In a separate incident, eight crosses belonging to the Moiwend Buako clan were also removed and disappeared.
“The black cross erected by the Kamuyend clan serves as a traditional prohibition marker and a symbol of resistance against the injustice of government policies that have disposed them of their land and damaged their livelihoods,” Merauke Solidarity said in a press release on Tuesday (3 November 2026).
The group said the black cross was not simply a piece of wood driven into the ground, but a sacred symbol of resistance and a message of rejection against the forced clearing of their customary forests and land.
It also represents the spiritual connection between their ancestors, customary land and their struggle for justice, the group said.
Merauke Solidarity said the incident demonstrated what it described as the failure of the Merauke regency administration, the South Papua provincial government and the Indonesian government to resolve conflicts affecting Indigenous communities, as well as a lack of political will to address the issue.
The group said the state had an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of Indigenous people, which are recognized and protected under Article 18B(2) of the 1945 Constitution, Article 43 Law No. 2/2021 of the Second Amendment to the Special Autonomy Law for Papua, Law No. 39/1999 on Human Rights, and Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/PUU-X/2012.
Merauke Solidarity said it strongly condemned what it described as acts of thuggery and violence by unidentified individuals allegedly trained and supporting the National Strategic Project (PSN), who removed the Black Cross from the Kamuyend clan’s customary land in Ngguti district.
The group called on the President, the South Papua governor, the Merauke regent and all relevant state institutions to establish a fact-finding team to identify those responsible for the intimidation and the individuals allegedly behind the removal and destruction of the Black Cross in Merauke.
It said the government had an obligation to protect Indigenous communities and ensure their safety as they seek justice and defend their customary land in Ngguti district.
Merauke Solidarity also called on the government and companies to immediately cease all activities on the Kamuyend clan’s customary land in Ngguti district. (*)
Jayapura, Jubi – World Vision Indonesia (Wahana Visi Indonesia – WVI) has relaunched its Baca Tanpa Batas (Read Without Limits) campaign, an initiative aimed at mobilizing public support to help more than 5,000 children in Papua.
The campaign focuses on improving the quality of education by distributing literacy support packages containing school stationary, blankets and school lunch kits.
WVI has been working with communities for more than four years to improve access to literacy through various programmes and activities.
A 2025 WVI study conducted in Biak, Sentani, Sarmi and the Central Highlands of Papua found that only 32 per cent of Year of 3 primary school students could read before receiving more comprehensive educational support.
According to WVI, quality education depends on more than just the availability of schools, teachers and textbooks. Access to essential learning supplies is also important in ensuring children can learn effectively.
Through the Baca Tanpa Batas campaign, WVI provides various forms of educational support, including mobile libraries, reading centers, reading corners and digital libraries. The campaign also distributes children’s storybooks with the support of local communities and members of the public.
WVI National Director Angelina Theodora said that in many parts of Indonesia, including Papua, essential school supplies were often overlooked because they placed an additional financial burden on economically disadvantaged families.
“Yet these resources are also important in making children comfortable and encouraging them to develop an enthusiasm for learning,” Angelina said in an electronic message on Tuesday (3 November 2026).
She said that through the Baca Tanpa Batas campaign, which was launched in 2023, WVI aimed to encourage the public to help create a supportive environment for the growth and development of children in Papua.
All children have the fundamental right to access quality education so they can enjoy a better quality of life, including children in Papua, she said.
“However, the challenges facing education in Papua are not limited to basic access to educational facilities. They also include access to adequate resources and materials that support a conductive learning environment,” she said.
She added that many families in vulnerable communities struggled to meet their daily basic needs, meaning educational supplies were often neglected.
Siska, an WVI beneficiary from Sentani, Jayapura regency, Papua province, said her granddaughter Tina enjoyed reading, even if she could only manage short passages.
“I enjoy helping her read so that Tina can learn to read before starting primary school,” Siska said.
She said she also encouraged children to develop an interest in reading and learning by putting up pictures of trees and animals and making simple paper crafts.
However, living in a village far from the city made it difficult for families to access school supplies such as exercise books, pencils and pens, she said.
“We would be greatly helped by receiving these literacy packages, as they would encourage children to become more enthusiastic about learning,” she said. (*)
Acting Head of the provincial Border Management and Cooperation Agency Elix Bidana hopes the border post will be built by 2027, stimulating development in education, health care and economic activity across the Papua Highlands border region.
"Once the border post is established, the area will no longer be underdeveloped. Instead, it will become Indonesia's gateway and front porch, helping accelerate regional development," he said here Thursday.
According to Bidana, eight of the district's 34 subdistricts directly border Papua New Guinea.
"Of the 34 subdistricts in Bintang Mountains District, eight share a direct border with Papua New Guinea. There is currently no border post, so we are urging the central government to accelerate its construction," he said.
Indonesia previously installed 52 border markers along the frontier when the region was still known as Irian Jaya, he said.
Ten markers are located in present-day Bintang Mountains District, which was formerly part of Jayawijaya District, he added.
Without a formal border post, authorities have adopted state-oriented and family-oriented approaches to engaging communities living along the Bintang Mountains-Papua New Guinea border, Bidana said.
The government has identified three potential sites for border posts, but is prioritizing one in Diki Hamlet, Tarup Subdistrict, in the district's southern area.
"We plan to build three border posts in Bintang Mountains District, but our immediate priority is the southern site in Diki Hamlet, Tarup Subdistrict, where 15 hectares of land have been prepared," he said.
Land documentation, environmental impact assessments and other administrative requirements are being prepared, pending an Indonesian presidential decree, he said.
Officials were finalizing supporting documents and a site designation letter before submitting the proposal to the central government, he said, adding that construction, however, would depend on the presidential decree.
Related news: Indonesia-PNG Border Trade Fair to feature 66 small businesses
Related news: Indonesia, PNG strengthen border cooperation through power talks
Translator: Yudhi Effendi, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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