By: Andika Ramadhani) *
Papua separatist figure Benny Wenda was invited as one of the participants in the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Tuvalu, August 13-16, 2019. This has received protests from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Benny’s participation.
The protest was certainly not without reason, because the PIF secretariat was considered not neutral in the Papua issue and behaved inappropriately as the secretariat that organized the Pacific Island Forum.
The Indonesian government has also made it clear not to open dialogue space with Benny Wenda. The reason is, Benny Wenda has shown the bad faith to really part with the Republic of Indonesia.
According to media reports by The Guardian, at the PIF event in Tuvalu, Benny who now resides in Britain will garner support from Pacific nations for the independence of his homeland, Papua. Benny as a Free Papua figure always invites the attention of the Indonesian government, such as an award from the Oxford city government given to Benny last July.
The Guardian also reported that Benny would campaign
for the birth of the resolution of the UN General Assembly to review the 1969 Determination of the Opinion of the People (Pepera) which included Papua into the lap of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.
The portal also reported that Jakarta was not happy if the Papua Issue was included in the official agenda of the PIF meeting. Because this step will set a precedent for interference in other countries’ domestic affairs.
In the media, the news has received 1200 reactions, 125 comments and as many as 396 citizens shared the news again. Audiences exposed by the news are Australia 86%, UK 4%, OAP 4%, US 4% and PNG 2%.
The issue of Papuan independence is rumored to be officially discussed in
Pacific Islands Forum this week. Benny Wenda will use the PIF in Tuvalu to push for UN voting on Jakarta’s control of Indonesia’s easternmost province.
It certainly invites criticism from Indonesia because it is considered to violate Indonesia’s sovereignty and provides a negative example because it interferes in the domestic problems of other countries.
Benny Wenda is known to have fled Papua, but now he is the official representative of the Vanuatu government delegation. Benny told The Guardian, that human rights violations and the suppression of civilians that are happening right now in Papua are cancer in the heart of the pacific people.
Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga and PIF Secretary General Meg Taylor said that they did not know anything about what had happened to the Papuan delegation. Last month, at a meeting of the Pacific-level foreign ministers, Vanuatu succeeded in officially entering the Papua Issue into the Pacific Islands Forum agenda.
The problem seems to lie with administrative issues on the part of the Vanuatu government, which is the Papuan delegation that will be part of the delegation.
At a regional foreign ministers meeting held last month, Vanuatu has successfully pushed the West Papua problem to be formally included on the PIF agenda, against stubborn opposition from Australia.
Meanwhile Australia itself has lodged strong protests over the move. Australia’s own Foreign Policy strongly supports Indonesia’s sovereignty over Papua, while the Pacific countries, especially Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, support Papua’s independence. A spokesman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs stated that the country recognized Indonesia’s sovereignty over Papua as stated in the Lombok agreement in 2006.
Australia routinely raises human rights concerns with the Indonesian government, including in relation to the province of Papua.
Indonesia itself is not a PIF member which will be held at Funafuti, Tuvalu. The status of Indonesia to date is a dialogue partner for PIF. The issue of Papua brought to other regional forums also made the Indonesian government express their anger. This is because for Jakarta, Papua is part of Indonesia.
Especially if we know the facts in the 2019 election, where the participation rate from Papua and West Papua was 88 percent, 94 percent of the votes approved the administration of President Jokowi. This high participation certainly shows recognition of the strong political aspirations of the people of Papua and their belief in the Indonesian democratic process.
) * The author is an observer of international relations