Why Indonesia is Losing the West Papua Conflict | Human

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It has been more than a month since an armed group kidnapped Phillip Merthens, a New Zealand-born pilot, in Nduga, West Papua, Indonesia on February 7, 2023. The group is the Liberation Army of West Papua. Known by its acronym TPNPB, it is an armed wing of the Papua Liberation Movement (OPM).

As local media reported, TPNPB, led by Egianus Kogoya, a local commander, stormed Susi Air’s small plane after it landed, set it on fire and took the pilot hostage. TPNPB then took him to his stronghold, where it would use him as its “political lever”. The military and police still have no idea where TPNPB is hiding the pilot, mainly due to terrain issues.

However, the army has raided villages to get information about the whereabouts of the armed group. Intimidated, some Papuans have fled their villages in the Nduga and Lanny Jaya regencies. A deadly riot broke out after the kidnapping, and most recently armed clashes between the group and security forces have killed both civilians and soldiers in the Yahukimo and Puncak regencies.

All this clearly shows that there is no end in sight to the intensified hostilities that have plagued West Papua over the past six years. But the reality is that none of this is surprising.

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From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Indonesian government settled hundreds of thousands of people from other parts of the country in West Papua through its transmigration program, aiming to forcibly change the demographics of the region and take control of the region, even though the government also started military actions. activities. The result: a decrease in the number of indigenous Papuans on their own land, countless deaths and mass displacement.

by these measures Papuan identity – unlike Indonesia – did not arise from cultural, religious and physical differences, but rather from racial discrimination by the state, combined with past and present grievances of indigenous Papuans.

The conflict has led to both a non-violent movement and an armed struggle to defend the identity and rights of the Papuans.

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