Indonesia’s next crisis: West Papua
November 12, 2008

RADIO 2CBA FOCAL POINT COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY JUNE 2ND, 2000 ON RADIO 2CBA FM.

Now that Jakarta has been driven out of East Timor, the next target for independence is West Papua.

West Papua is the easternmost part of Indonesia, with a population of about 1.8 million. It is the western end of the island with Papua New Guinea.

It is Indonesia’s largest province. It has the world’s richest gold mine and second largest open cut copper mine. Logging is also very important, with the forested area second only to the Amazon Basin in size.

During the discussions after World War II with the nationalists on the future boundaries of an independent Indonesia, there was disagreement over West Papua’s inclusion in the new country. The Netherlands opposed West Irian’s inclusion into Indonesia. It thought that West Irian’s wealth should make a contribution to the Dutch economy. In the negotiations that led to Indonesian independence in 1949, it was agreed that West Papua’s fate would be decided later.

A decade later, Dutch policy began to change. Other imperial powers in western Europe (except Portugal) were getting out of their colonies: colonies were now being seen as liabilities rather than assets.

The Dutch were also losing the battle at the UN. The growing Third World bloc opposed Dutch rule and sided with Indonesia, one of the bloc’s leaders. The United States wanted to remain on good terms with Indonesia (partly because of its influence in the Third World bloc) and so it also sided with Indonesia.

To save Dutch prestige, in 1962 West Papua was handed over to the UN via the UN Temporary Executive Authority for a period of six years until a national vote could be held on either independence or integration into Indonesia. But Indonesia quickly took over that body and so it failed to operate as intended.

The 1969 Act of Free Choice was a farce. There was no plebiscite: only a sample of pro-Indonesian opinions drawn from 1025 tribal leaders selected by the Indonesian Government, all of whom supported integration into Indonesia.

However, the Free Papua Movement has long opposed the Indonesian take-over. Indigenous people claim the Indonesian presence runs counter to their values. They do not feel they belong in Indonesia; they have more affinity with the people in the east (Papua New Guinea and the rest of Melanesia). A guerrilla struggle has been underway for decades.

The United Nations is to be called upon to re-open this issue. Back in 1969, the UN General Assembly quietly noted the absorption of West Papua into Indonesia and hoped that the scandal would be forgotten.

Now that scandal is coming back to haunt both the UN and Indonesia.