Letter: Papua’s coverage

I refer to an article titled “What hope is there left for the betterment of Papua?” (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 28).

I think the way Indonesia treats Papua is disgraceful. Of course Papuans want a special autonomy to manage their own land and affairs. Of course they don’t want migrant Indonesians to flood into Papua when funds start dribbling in from the Indonesian government. Indonesia has proved time and time again that the affairs of Papua are minor.

The article is correct; the coverage of Papua is thin, because Papua’s problems are framed as minor.

Then again, what could be interesting in Papua? Police’s Counterterrorism Detachment (Densus 88) isn’t catching any terrorists over there.

Indeed, Papua does not produce terrorists, but Indonesia produces Papuan torture victims. When the Indonesian maid case came out, there were two or three weeks of other cases in the media. We should be hearing all the stories of similar incidents from Papuan people at the hands of Indonesian armed forces and businesses and expose what is really going on there.

Lauren
Palembang