Indonesian leaders promise dialogue, funding to quell Papua unrest
Joseph Hammond
Indonesian President Joko Widodo is promising infrastructure improvements and economic development to help stabilize and bring prosperity back to the country’s Papua region.
Demonstrations and sometimes violent protests swept through the area in August and September 2019 following clashes between small groups of Papuan separatists and nationalist militias during the Tujuhbelasan (Independence Day) celebrations. The clashes resulted in a number of deaths, and a local parliament building was torched. Jakarta deployed 6,000 police and military personnel to the region to restore order on September 2, 2019.
To ease the tension, President Widodo engaged local leaders and religious figures, and has been promoting economic development and public works projects.
When he visited the region in late October 2019, he was joined by Deputy Minister of Public Works John Wempi Wetipo, a native Papuan. They stopped in several towns in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, which share the island of Papua with the country of Papua New Guinea. Widodo held talks with local leaders in the provincial capital of Jayapura before presiding over the opening of the newly constructed Youtefa bridge.
“If everyone here commits to staying united,” Widodo said in an official statement, “together we can build the land of Papua, and I think we can achieve prosperity and welfare quickly.” (Pictured: President Joko Widodo meets leaders from the country’s Papua region.)
He ordered the rapid reconstruction of the main market in the Papuan city of Wamena, which was burned in the unrest, and promised 128 kilometers of new roads and the construction of a new airport in the Arfak mountains in West Papua.
President Widodo has visited Papua more than seven times since his election in 2014, according to the BBC.
Earlier, on October 10, 2019, Ryamizard Ryacudu, then minister of defense, traveled with a delegation to Papua where he met with tribal leaders and religious figures in Jayapura, the ministry reported.
Ryacudu engaged in discussions with the Seven Indigenous Peoples of Papua and the West Papua for the Creation of a Safe and Peaceful Papua, which are two groups that advocate for greater understanding between the Indonesian government and its easternmost provinces. A consensus was reached that all parties should work together “to realize the future of a safe and prosperous Papua.”
Alberth Yoku, a native Papuan Christian minister with a history of support for indigenous Papuan identity within the framework of the Indonesian state, attended the meetings. “We want our home, our paradise on Earth, to be able to advance like other regions in the country,” Yoku said, “so we emphasize that the people of Papua and West Papua want Papua Peace.”
Ryacudu often expressed an affinity for Papua during his visit. Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto replaced Ryacudu on October 23, 2019.
“I am not surprised Ryacudu went [to West Papua]. He was minister of defense … and he arrived at a time when the situation was getting worse,” Zachary M. Abuza, professor at the National War College told FORUM. Abuza, a leading expert on security affairs in Southeast Asia, described the situation as Indonesia’s only active insurgency. The province, previously known as Iran Jaya, was renamed West Papua in 1999 and has long been troubled.
In addition to talks with religious figures and traditional leaders, Ryacudu’s tour also included meetings with youth activists and members of civil society in the Abepura district of Jayapura. In September 2019, a Soldier and three civilians were killed there in a riot. Ryacudu also took time to visit refugees who were evacuated following the Wamena riot earlier in 2019.
Joseph Hammond is a FORUM contributor reporting from the Indo-Pacific region.
