By: Rebbeca Marian) *
The problem in Papua has been highlighted by various parties, thus encouraging ideas to involve foreign parties. The idea was considered unethical, because the Papua problem was a domestic affair of Indonesia as a sovereign state. On the other hand, various developments that are intensively carried out at this time are a concrete government effort to advance Papua.
Responding to the idea of involving foreign parties in the Papua problem, of course we must understand one of the main principles in international relations, which is forbidden to interfere in or intervene in the affairs of other countries. Based on these principles, if Indonesia invites other countries to participate in solving problems in Papua, of course this is tantamount to a form of foreign intervention on the domestic affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. Then what if the country imposes its will on Indonesia.
Even though the problem that is quite complicated is the presence of Papuans who are still raising the OPM flag, still armed criminal groups are trying to ride demonstrations that had occurred.
So of course it is not wise if we only accuse the central government of incompetence in dealing with the problems that exist in Papua, because the problem of Papua is very complex, and the government will also always try to make Papua more advanced and prosperous.
One Papuan Student Edward Krey said that the people of Papua and West Papua must also actively eradicate corruption that still occurs there. Aside from that, there should be no more time for government employees or even officials to leave their area for weeks, even months for no apparent reason.
According to him, the people of Papua need to realize that their main task is to develop Papua and West Papua. Edward also consciously believed that the two easternmost provinces of Indonesia were by no means “stepchildren” to the Republic of Indonesia.
He believes that all 34 provinces in the country are golden children or the government’s favorite in the capital city of the Republic of Indonesia.
We may need to reflect on the sentence that was uttered by Luther King Jr., which states that peace is not demonstrated by the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice. Therefore all elements of society must be involved in law enforcement.
Therefore a firm and just stance must be addressed not only to separatists, but also to those who want to take advantage of the continued violence in Papua.
The results of several studies conducted, such as by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), show that the root cause of the conflict in Papua is due to marginalization and discriminatory actions in economic development against indigenous Papuans, lack of development especially in infrastructure, education, health and empowerment people’s economy.
But the problem of separatist movements in Papua still requires serious attention by the government, of course without any foreign intervention, because it is a matter of domestic politics.
So the government needs to work to fulfill the basic rights of the people of Papua and the struggle for the sovereignty of natural resources in Papua. Then keep the commitment that Papua and West Papua become peace-loving areas.
In addition, the Government must also continue to encourage officials in the regions to carry out special autonomy in a consistent manner so that they can utilize special autonomy funds appropriately for improving the welfare of the community, especially in the fields of health, education and other social problems.
Welfare issues in Papua are of particular concern to the government. Various Eastern Indonesia Especially Papua. Starting from the social approach, politics and culture, to the economic approach.
In terms of the economy, of course we must remember that in the era of Jokowi – Jusuf Kalla’s administration, the price of fuel became 1 price from Sabang to Merauke, at least it reduced the problems that were there.
Nevertheless, of course the government needs to make further efforts to approach the people of Papua. So that infrastructure development such as paved roads is also accompanied by human resource development in Papua.
The problem in Papua is indeed not a simple problem, but we certainly know that infrastructure development is one of the tangible proofs of the government’s concern for the welfare of the people of Papua.
In this case the Government certainly does not require interference from abroad, it certainly seems unethical because Papua is part of Indonesia as a sovereign country.
) * The writer is a Papuan student living in Jakarta