By: Rebecca Marian) *
It is still clear in our heads when the figure of Beny Wenda voices Papuan independence at international forums. However, today the issue is outdated and has never been discussed again. So that the decision for Papua to become part of Indonesia is of course final. Therefore it is inviolable.
Menkopolhukam Mahfud MD said that there are some who suggest, especially the separatist Free Papua Organization and its various organizations, to state that Papua is not part of Indonesia. Papua has the right to become its own state and nation. Therefore, Mahfud explicitly stated that the relationship between Papua and the Republic of Indonesia was final and inviolable.
He also ensured that the Government would protect Papua with all its power and efforts. Whether it’s through an economic, social to political approach. For him, the problem of separating Papua from Indonesia has no longer been questioned since the determination of popular opinion (Pepera) in 1969. From the results of the war, the United Nations stated that Indonesia had the right to defend it with political or military force.
Mahfud revealed that the UN general assembly at that time declared the results of the Act in August 1969 and was final. Can be defended by military force, political power, and so on by Indonesia. The former Minister of Defense during the Gus Dur era added that the issue of Papuan independence at this time was rarely discussed in the international world. This is because the Papua region is not included in the list of the 24 UN committees.
Committee 24 itself is an area that has the opportunity to become its own state. An example is Timor Leste when it wanted to separate from Indonesia. At present, in the international world, the issue of Free Papua is not that many. In international forums for several years there has been no agenda to discuss the issue of Papuan independence. Because he is not on the committee list 24.
Mahfud also touched on the state’s obligation to maintain territorial and ideological integrity. This is because, according to him, the current state ideological disturbance is the emergence of intolerant attitudes, terrorism, separatism, which want to impose a belief based on the wishes of a group of believers. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s territorial disturbances can be mapped from the western, central and eastern parts. Mahfud gave an example of the potential for disturbance to the western part of the territory, for example the entry of smuggling of foreign ships through the North Natuna Sea or South China, while in central Indonesia such as Java, Sumatra and Makassar there is a potential for terrorism disturbance, while territorial disturbance in the eastern part of Indonesia is a separatist movement.
On a different occasion, Papua leader Ali Kablay stated that the Free Papua Organization (OPM) is now extinct. Meanwhile, what exists now is the Armed Criminal Group which often commits acts of violence. Ali admitted that the OPM had always infected the thoughts of residents along the coast / coast of Papua and the OPM was born from an underground spiritual movement of violence.
Over time, as time went by, the upheaval of the OPM at that time, it was the Papuan people from the coast who were always active in fighting against the state with their actions, but with a humanist touch by the government and time, the welfare of the coastal Papuan people began to become the government’s attention.
Ali said that currently many coastal Papuan children have been given the opportunity by the state to work as civil servants, also given functional positions. Also beach children who serve the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia through the TNI-Polri, opportunities in various sports fields.
After their elders died, according to Ali Kabiay, it was at this point that the OPM had no longer existed or had become extinct, because indirectly, the OPM Movement was not continued by their family successors. Ali also acknowledged that when the state had paid great attention to the Papuan people in terms of welfare, learning opportunities and occupying the government, they used to call themselves OPM now part of Indonesian citizens.
Papuan independence is a form of betrayal of the unity of the Republic of Indonesia, especially since the government has paid more attention to Papua so that it can rise and have competitiveness with other parts of Indonesia.
) * The author is a Papuan student living in Jakarta