The number of victims in Papua due to the actions of the Papuan Separatist Terrorist Group (KST) must be suppressed, especially since the victims are not only from civil society but also from security forces who are carrying out their duties.
Security forces from both the TNI and Polri will not remain silent to prevent the public from becoming victims in efforts to protect and rescue Pilot Susi Air from being held hostage by KST Papua. Therefore, they make efforts with a persuasive approach so that the situation is safe, under control and remains conducive.
Regarding the hostage-taking, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security (Menkopolhukam), Mahfud MD admitted that indeed the pilot from Susi Air PK-BVY, namely Captain Philips Max Mehrtens had been taken hostage by KST Papua, he even stated that until now the pilot had been The New Zealand citizen has not been released.
Mahfud also admitted that until now, the government of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) has also continued to make every effort to save the pilot. Then, the pattern of approach taken by the government in the rescue effort is persuasive.
The Government of the Republic of Indonesia also continues to maintain communication with the New Zealand government. Mahfud MD then emphasized that indeed the taking of civilians as hostages could not be justified for any reason. Despite using a persuasive approach, the Government of Indonesia also does not rule out other efforts.
In addition, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs also revealed that Papua itself is still a legitimate part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, both constitutionally and under international law.
Meanwhile, the TNI Commander, Admiral Yudo Margono emphasized that there was absolutely no deadline for rescuing the Susi Air Pilot. It is known that for two months the pilot is still being held hostage by KST Papua.
Next, Admiral Yudo Margono explained the reasons behind why the operation to free the Susi Air pilot had no deadline at all. According to him, the hostage-taking was completely different from other hostage-takings, because one of the factors was the location.
He emphatically said that the joint team is still carrying out various methods, including a persuasive approach to be able to save the Susi Air Pilot, Captain Philips Max Mehrtens who has been held hostage by KST Papua since February 2023.
The TNI Commander emphasized that his party was still carrying out its duties to be able to carry out the release and used a persuasive approach. This approach was also assisted by collaborating with several other parties such as religious leaders, community leaders to the Regent of Nduga to be able to do it persuasively.
Although the TNI could have carried out a rescue by military means, given the large number of TNI soldiers owned by the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia and complete war equipment. However, this military method carries great risks.
How could it not be, because if the TNI carries out military operations and does not use a persuasive approach, this will actually have the potential to cause many victims, namely civilians who are completely innocent. In fact, on the other hand, the military forces owned by the Republic of Indonesia have complete equipment and also have many professional soldiers.
Moreover, from the intelligence operations that have been carried out, it turns out that Admiral Yudo Margono found there was a discourse that if his party used a military approach or operation, there would be discussions that revealed that KST Papua did not hesitate at all to shoot and kill TNI soldiers. Apart from that, he also minimized accusations later if it turned out later that there were accusations that the TNI actually killed the pilot.
So it is very clear that KST Papua is using the hostages as a tool to threaten the Indonesian security forces so that if they use military operations, they will absolutely not hesitate to kill the Susi Air Pilot directly. While the TNI Commander did not want this to happen at all.
Even though he did not use military operations and continued to use a persuasive approach, he emphasized and ensured that the TNI would continue to make efforts to release them safely and conducively so that no civilians would be affected at all. Furthermore, the Commander in Chief also emphasized that his party already knew the position where the Susi Air Pilot was being held hostage by KST Papua.
So that the whole process of securing and rescuing Pilot Susi Air who was taken hostage by KST Papua continues to be carried out using a persuasive approach by security forces in Indonesia.
A persuasive approach certainly needs to be taken, this is done in order to reduce the risk that there will be victims from the innocent community, moreover KST does indeed mingle with society, so that when they do not hold weapons the TNI-Polri officers will find it difficult to distinguish which are ordinary civilians and which are KST sympathizers.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Bali
