By : Clara Anastasya Wompere )*
The United Nations (UN) has very firmly stated that it rejects the Papuan referendum. Therefore, it can be said clearly that the Land of Papua is an integral part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), which is something that is very concrete and final.
The UN firmly rejects the Papua referendum proposal and instead prefers to recognize that the Earth of Cenderawasih is an integral part of the country. In a discussion by the Indonesian Representative to the UN in New York, where the meeting was held with the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, he discussed the situation and latest developments in the easternmost province of the country, including a discussion regarding the sovereignty status of Papua in terms of UN perspective.
From the results of the meeting, it turned out that a very important fact was revealed regarding the decision which was very clear and even more significant, namely that it was stated that the UN fully supports Indonesia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Furthermore, according to the UN itself, the status of Papua, namely that the region is part of Indonesia, is a final matter based on the Uti Possidetis Juris, New York Agreement 1962, Act of Free Choice 1969, and also UN GA resolution 2504 (XXIV) 1969.
Then, the second thing is for the UN to see the outcome of the efforts to accelerate development which have been continuously intensified by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), especially in the era of the leadership of the seventh President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in the Papua and Papua regions West.
Another thing that is understood by the UN is that there are indeed a handful of separatist groups who continue to try to create and spread various fake news or hoaxes as well as carrying out acts of violence and leading to anarchist demonstrations. Therefore, the UN continues to remind all security forces not to be careless in taking action, but to act decisively and measurably to minimize the emergence of negative impacts in the future.
It is very clear that the recognition issued by the UN is very clear evidence of how the Indonesian Government has played a very strong role as a balancer in Papua, not only coming from its foreign policy achievements, but also the development achievements that have been achieved. on the Earth of Cenderawasih.
If you measure the range of serious attention and focus that the Central Government continues to give to Papua, a lot of time has been spent, especially efforts to continue to focus on aspects of justice and improving welfare for all indigenous Papuan communities (OAP) so that they can continue to grow . What can be seen in Papua today is a very big leap from all the government’s efforts to overcome poverty.
For your information, the region previously called West Irian (or what is now Papua) was founded at the Round Table Conference (KMB) which was held on December 27, 1949. Through the implementation of the KMB, the Netherlands was indeed willing to give its sovereignty to this nation.
However, in that year Indonesia and the Netherlands themselves were still involved in conflict. Both countries still feel entitled to the Land of Papua. The Dutch still want the region in West Papua to be formed as its own country. In the end they brought the problem to the United Nations (UN) forum.
The Netherlands was then willing to reopen discussions with Indonesia, resulting in the New York agreement being formed. Through this agreement, they are willing to hand over their control over Papua to the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNITEA). However, there is a requirement from the Netherlands, namely that Indonesia carry out a Determination of People’s Opinion (Pepera).
From the results of the Pepera that has been carried out, it turns out that the West Papua region itself chose to remain part of the Republic of Indonesia. However, during the Indonesian revolution, the Dutch launched a police action to take territory on the Earth of Cenderawasih from the Republic.
The Windmill Country is trying to continue to colonize the Land of Papua because it believes that it produces a lot of agricultural products. In fact, under Dutch rule, Papua was required to give away all their agricultural products.
At the UN General Assembly in September 1961, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns, proposed that Papua be under the UN. However, this proposal was rejected by the UN General Assembly.
Because it is very clear that the UN rejects the Papuan referendum, especially in the Pepera the Papuan people themselves have chosen to become an integral part of the Republic of Indonesia, so this is actually final and no longer needs to be disputed.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Yogyakarta
