Five Indonesian battleships are patrolling the sea border with Australia, preventing the flight of Papuans, 600 of whom are ready to emigrate to this neighboring country.
Tempo Magazine (via Joyo Indonesia News) No. 32/VI April 11-17, 2006
FIVE Indonesian battleships have taken up positions in the Arafuru Sea.
They patrol the border with Australia, scrutinizing each passing
motorboat. "If a boat carrying suspicious persons is found, we will
check
it out," said Lieutenant Colonel Toni Syaiful, spokesman for the
Indonesian Navy's Eastern Fleet. Full alert has been in effect since
Monday of last week.
The Arafuru Sea has been a favorite route for (Indonesian) Papuans
seeking asylum in Australia. In mid-January, 43 Papuans crossed over
via this route. The Australian government provided a warm reception by
issuing them three-year visas. Words of protest have emanated from
Jakarta.
Although President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has recalled the country's
ambassador from Canberra for the meantime, Australia has not altered
its stance.
Recently, some Indonesian businesspeople formed a protest. On Thursday
of last week, an association of Indonesian importers agreed to boycott
fruit, meat, cookies, and other products from Australia.
It seems that officials in Jakarta will have to get used to the
maneuvers of the asylum seekers from Papua. A number of leaders of the
Free Papua Organization (OPM) have confirmed that political-asylum
seekers will most likely continue to flee until there is international
intervention to end the Papua dispute. This campaign to seek asylum is
being coordinated by the West Papua Association, which is headquartered
in Australia.
Planned two years ago, the flight was conducted in addition to
demonstrations and international lobbying.
A number of OPM envoys abroad have lobbied countries such as Japan, the
Netherlands, Fiji, Germany, Vanuatu, Jordan, Australia, and some
African nations. The main theme of their campaign varies in each area.
In Europe, they focus on human rights. In the Pacific, they appeal to
unity of the Melanesians, the dominant race in this region.
In Africa, the OPM highlights the fact that Papuans are a part of the
Negroid race. On Thursday of last week, to Koran Tempo daily, Jacob
Rumbiak said that the organization has opened representative offices in
several African nations, such as Sierra Leone and Ghana. The OPM is
also going to open offices in other African countries.
Since the beginning of the Papua conflict, a number of countries in
Africa have actively supported Papuan independence. On July 1, 1975,
four years after the proclamation of the independence of West Papua,
the OPM officially opened its office in Dakar, led by Ben Tanggahma, a
man from Jayapura who had fled there.
The political campaign for a Free Papua has also reached the United
States. After 43 asylum seekers landed in Australia last January, Jacob
Rumbiak sent letters to several members of the US Congress in
Washington,
DC. He urged those American political figures to support Papuan
independence.
In America, which has a large population of African-Americans, the OPM
has a long-standing alliance with the Black Caucus, the group which has
struggled for the rights of blacks worldwide. Founded in 1971, this
organization is well known among African-American citizens. Their
prominence rose after successfully helping Jean Bertrand Aristide
retake the presidency of Haiti in 1994, which had been taken over by a
military coup in mid-1991.
Recently, the Black Caucus has struggled on behalf of the independence
of West Papua. In mid-June 2005, they succeeded in entering Bill HR
2601 into Congress. This bill mentions that Papua became a part of
Indonesia on account of political manipulation. It also says that about
100,000 Papuans have been killed since the region became a part of
Indonesia in 1969. They are convinced that genocide has taken place in
Papua.
This bill has not yet been passed by the US Senate, but the issue of
genocide continues to be voiced. After landing at Cape York, Australia,
last January, Herman Wainggai, the leader of the 43 asylum seekers from
Papua, also mentioned the same thing. "Indonesia has clearly committed
genocide in Papua," he accused. Jakarta has strongly denied this
accusation.
Several media outlets in Australia have said that the flight of
Herman's group will soon be imitated by other groups. On Saturday two
weeks ago, The Age, one of Australia's largest newspapers, said that
about 600
Papuans are ready to cross over to neighboring countries in the
Pacific.
This first group of 43 asylum seekers emigrated last January. However,
because motorboats were not available, the others were put on a waiting
list. The details of this flight were arranged by Edison Waromi, an
activist of the West Papua movement who lives in Australia. To The Age,
Waroni confirmed that the other asylum seekers will soon follow if the
first wave succeeds in obtaining visas.
It looks like Waroni was right. After Australia granted visas to 42 of
the asylum seekers, it was reported that six other Papuans sailed for
Australia on Sunday of last week. This group was led by Paulus
Samkakai, a
labor activist in Merauke. Australian media said that these asylum
seekers landed on Bamboo Island, an uninhabited island south of
Australia. Two children and a 2-month-old baby were a part of this
group.
The Australian government has not commented on the second arrival of
asylum seekers. Amanda Vanstone, the Australian Minister of
Immigration, who three weeks ago cheerily announced asylum for 42
Papuans, said that they had not yet received reliable information and
that they do not yet want to give any comment.
After the Indonesian Military (TNI) began to keep a close watch on the
sea border, asylum seekers began preparing other routes of flight.
Edison Warom has said that the remaining asylum seekers are likely to
cross over to Papua New Guinea. From there, they will continue their
journey to Australia.
There are some routes of passage between West Papua and Papua New
Guinea which have long been used by asylum seekers. One sea route runs
from Jayapura to Vanimo, a small town in Papua New Guinea. This route
became popular during the time of the political unrest in 1962, the
most famous flight taking place on February 7, 1984. At that time, tens
of people fled to Vanimo. They left from Pantai Pasir Enam, Jayapura,
by motorboat.
This flight was triggered by the arrest of Arnold Clemens Ap, a famous
cultural expert in Papua. Arnold was a figure of the student movement
at Cenderawasih University from the old generation. He helped mobilize
the students when Ortiz San, the envoy of the United Nations, arrived
to evaluate the Act of Free Choice (Pepera) in 1969. After West Papua
became a part of Indonesia, Arnold founded Membesak, an arts and
culture organization.
This organization was suspected of being a front. It was said that
Arnold was a liaison between OPM elements in the jungle and the cities.
This is why he was arrested by the military. When Arnold attempted to
flee to Vanimo, where his wife and children had previously fled, he was
shot by the authorities, breathing his last breath in Aryoko Hospital
in Jayapura. The details surrounding Arnold's flight are still shrouded
in mystery, but his friends doubt that he tried to flee.
Fleeing to Vanimo can also be done via Wutung, an area on the border of
West Papua and Papua New Guinea. This route is more practical because
it only takes an hour to travel from Wutung to Vanimo by car. This is
the route which was used by Mathias Wenda, the leader of the National
Liberation Army (TPN) the military division of the OPM, while fleeing
from the pursuing TNI. From Vanimo, Wenda coordinates with his troops.
The Wutung route was also used by Zeth Rumkomrem, who proclaimed Papuan
independence, on July 1, 1971, to flee to Papua New Guinea. Deserting
to neighboring countries can also be done under the guise of cultural
tourism. This unique method was used by a number of Papuan cultural
performers, including the famous musical group of the 1970s, Black
Brothers, known best for their song entitled Judgment Day. Air New
Guinea invited this group to perform in Port Moresby. However, after
their performance, they were reluctant to return home and applied for
asylum.
In addition to these routes, fleeing to Papua New Guinea can also be
done through a mountainous region. In several areas along the border,
such as Tanah Merah, Puncak Mandala, Arso in Jayapura, and the Merauke
region, there are valleys which can be used by the asylum seekers.
As a result, Papua New Guinea has become a way-station for those
fleeing from Papua. While some set up residence here, others have
continued on to the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Australia, and
several small countries in the Pacific. The Black Brothers musical
group continued their journey to the Netherlands, while Zeth Rumkorem
went to Sweden. Those who stay on in Papua New Guinea generally live in
Vanimo, Madang, and the capital city of Port Moresby.
With so many available routes of flight, it seems difficult to prevent
asylum seekers from crossing the border. Edison Waromi, who said he was
busy arranging the flight of hundreds of other Papuans, confirmed that
the
asylum seekers are prepared to traverse obscure routes to reach Papua
New Guinea.
On Tuesday of last week, Regent of Merauke Johanes Gluba Gebze said
that about 8,000 political refugees from West Papua have settled in a
number of cities in Papua New Guinea. This is the running total since
1962, when the political situation in West Papua began to heat up. The
local government in Merauke sent back 383 residents in 2003. The rest
have not yet been sent home because there are no funds available.
Gebze is urging the central government to provide jobs for the
political refugees who have returned. "They are living beings, not
objects for us to put in a warehouse. We have to fill their stomachs,"
he said.
The government of Papua New Guinea has not taken a definitive stance
regarding asylum seekers. This country recognizes West Papua as a part
of Indonesia, but it seems that their admission is just a political
nicety. Although this country refused to accept a delegation from West
Papua in a meeting of Melanesians held several weeks ago, a number of
OPM leaders can still freely carry on their struggle from within the
country's borders.
Wenseslaus Manggut, Cunding Levi, and Lita Utomo (Jayapura)