West Papua has just won an extraordinary victory at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) meeting in Noumea. When the heads of government and distinguished persons from Melanesian nations gathered for the MSG annual meeting in late June, the most prominent item on the agenda was West Papua’s membership. It was the result of some 18 months work by John Otto Ondawame, Rex Rumakiek, Andy Ajamiseba and Paula Makabory, the coordinating group of the West Papua National Coalition of Liberation, a West Papuan umbrella group for resistance organisations inside and outside the country. At the meeting, representatives of the Indonesian government (recently granted observer status by the MSG) publicly conceded that West Papua has become an international problem. This is extremely significant; for decades the Indonesian government has insisted that West Papua is an internal issue. Jakarta has repeatedly refused all offers of international assistance to resolve the longstanding conflict. However, as noted by the West Papuan delegation, the Indonesian government is acutely aware that MSG members have successfully sponsored past pushes for decolonisation in Vanuatu, East Timor, Kanaky (New Caledonia) and now Ma’ohi Nui (French Polynesia which includes Tahiti).
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 10:36:18 +0000