Papua – The safety and release of Pilot Susi Air is important because it plays a role in opening isolation in the mountains of Papua. Violence must be eradicated immediately to bring peace back.
The hostage of the pilot of the Susi Air plane, Philip Mark Mehrtens, which was carried out by the Separatist and Terrorist Group (KST Papua) led by Egianus Kogoya, continues to attract attention. Even the security forces who are members of the joint personnel of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) and the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) also continue to make their efforts to carry out rescue missions.
Even so, the security forces will still be careful in acting and rescuing Philip Mark Mehrtens. Not without reason, the article is that the kidnapping tragedy involved the life of a foreign citizen (WNA), namely the pilot himself who is a New Zealand citizen.
So far the security forces have acted with very precise calculations, especially since the Government of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) has also established direct communication with the New Zealand government.
However, on the other hand, KST Papua still wants their requests and demands related to the conditions for freeing the pilot of the Susi Air plane to be fulfilled. In fact, the TNI and Polri immediately firmly rejected their request, which they considered completely unreasonable.
Therefore, efforts to negotiate continue to be carried out by security forces with KST Papua, including waiting for negotiations from other outside countries. It should be noted that pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens himself has been held hostage by KST Papua since February 7 2023.
Meanwhile, Political Observer, Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, in a discussion on a television station, said that the airline Susi Air itself has had a long history in Papua, namely since 2006, now they have operated around 22 aircraft.
For this reason, it is very important that pioneer aircraft such as Susi Air have a mission to bring aid and distribute it to the Papuan Mountains and be able to open isolation in the region.
It is also undeniable that in that area it is very difficult if access continues to be carried out by land. Therefore, those who wish to distribute humanitarian assistance, including providing basic materials, must go by air.
The Nusa Bhakti Pledge then emphasized that the flights carried out by pioneering aircraft were very important. So he really regretted the burning of the Susi Air plane which was carried out by KST Papua. He even explained that this was not the first time this case of arson had occurred, because previously in 2021 something similar had also happened.
These political observers hope that a repressive security approach is the way and the last option that can be done. Because actually the Government of Indonesia itself still has several other possible options that can continue to be pursued in handling this case.
One way is to use a third person or mediator approach, in which the government itself has experience in this matter, because it reflects on the success of mediation when there was conflict with Aceh some time ago. He considered that clergy groups and also native regional groups were the right choices that could be used first.
In addition, he also believes that if religious leaders can unite and have the same vision and mission regarding the handling of this case, then they can resolve local customary conflicts well.
However, it cannot be denied that peace in Papua is very important because it is not only related to the interests of the local people and the Indonesian people as a whole, but also for the international world because there are so many investments in Papua.
On the other hand, the Chairperson of the Jayapura Regency Religious Harmony Forum, Albert Yoku explained that the pilots were actually heroes who were able to open up the isolation in the Papua Mountains and at the same time became heroes of a new civilization for people on Cenderawasih Earth.
Because according to him the sacrifices that have been made by the pilots are not small, because they bring civilization and development in the Papuan Mountains, they are even willing to risk their lives with difficult routes and sometimes bad weather. The safety of the pilot of the Susi Air aircraft is very important because now he is in a hostage position by KST Papua. How could it not be, because indeed the role that the pioneering aircraft had was in being able to open the isolation in the Papua Mountains and build civilization.
