West Papua - Just a footnote…?
Just finished re-reading “Paradise Betrayed” (thanks for the loan A), one the good n toffee-like Quarterly Essay’s. I read most of this one ages ago and consigned it to a footnote, as you do. Once I’d started rereading it this time though, I couldn’t put it down... it’s very, very well done – and (in many ways) dispassionately written... like only some journalists can do.
There are some friends back in Melbourne have supported fundraisers etc. for some Free West Papua groups… but how much do we consign these struggles to a footnote? Probably ‘as much as we need to’ if you’re in a generous mood. And probably ‘as much as we can’ if you’re in a self-righteously-chardonnay-type angry mood like I find myself after finishing reading the essay. All that said, I’m not grandstanding, I still know very little, am no expert, and all that stuff. But here’s a quick blog.
Population of West Papua-: Maybe 2.3million
Cereal Box History-:
1960’s – Under pressure from Kennedy during the Cold War, West Papua ‘given’ to Indonesia – originally a Dutch colony.
1963 – broad based uprisings since the Indons arrived – somewhere between 80,000 to 200,000 people killed.
1969 – Indonesians chose 1026 representatives from an indigenous population of 814,000 people to vote for “The Act of Free Choice” signing them into Indonesia. Former UN dudes, and everyone else really, agree later it was a total sham.
1969-early 70’s – refugees arriving to PNG.
1977 – Uprising/unrest again (more so than usual), put down by Indonesians.
1999 – Arrival of troops in East Timor, September 1999.
2000 – Revenue from the West Papua Freeport Gold & Copper mine listed at US$1,868,610,000 – the largest gold and 3rd largest copper mine in the world… and Indonesia’s largest tax-payer.
Differences in history to East Timor? Well, besides the biggest mine in the world, here’s a bit as written by John Martinkus in that QEssay:
The repressive strategy being played out in West Papua by the Indonesian authorities is an intimately familiar one. Only the most blinkered and partisan supporter of Jakarta could refuse to admit to the culpability of the Indonesian military in 1999, an event that forced the Australian government in the end to act decisively to end to the violence under massive Aust. public pressure. Now, as the same Indonesian commanders… are moving towards a comparable goal in a province that also lies directly to the north of Australia, the line has been drawn and it seems we have no outrage left.
That’s a good line – “it seems we have no outrage left”. Time to keep talking about West Papua...
Check out this New Internationalist article from 2002.
And another link/info page here.
Finally, this is from the DevZone website-:
“Messages of solidarity for the people of West Papua
You are invited to send a message of solidarity to the people of West Papua. Add your voice to those of people all around the world who are calling for justice, peace and self-determination for the people of West Papua.”
http://www.dev-zone.org/cgi-bin/knowledge/jump.cgi?ID=9452
posted by Naaaaath at 7:27 am
4 Comments:
Yes, some of my international community development students, especially the PNG students, are actively interested in the Free West Papua Movement, with so many displaced peoples. Another related issue is that that of illegal de-fostestation of areas in West Papua, with no benefits or compensation to the locals at all, once again. Such injustice.
Not on the issue of West Papua, but I thought you might be interested in this recent piece from the Age:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/png-time-to-start-again/2006/01/02/1136050387117.html
bec m
One vital ingredient to justify intervention is missing.
The mount ertsberg mine is not located close enough to our territorial waters to take half of the revenue, unlike the greater sunrise gas field.
Besides, unlike the gas fields, the mine is already developed. We wouldn't want to go upsetting a major multinational with interests in Australia such as Rio Tinto. A successfulrevolution would surely disrupt their million dollar a day (profit) operation. We'd probably be obliged to stop them dumping 120,000 tonnes of toxic tailings into the surrounding rivers daily.
Australian "peacekeepers" would be less likely to take kickbacks from the corporation than the indo army. Who then is going to viciously supress protest over the poisoning of their land by the surrounding tribesmen?
you and your australian hate mongers are liars. all you want to to invade irian jayia for its uranium for your insane plots to take over indonesian with your nuclear weapons. the proud people of indonesia WILL never give in to your neo-colonial greed.
go f*ck a dingo, christian scum.
dang.
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