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strong>April 11, Online

Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Moeldoko has given his assurance that his men will only pursue armed groups that fled across the border into Papua New Guinea (PNG) after being involved in a shootout with TNI soldiers at the Indonesia-PNG border a few days ago.  

'€œOff course, we will only target those people who are armed with rifles. We will take firm measures against whoever tries to jeopardize either the local population or the Indonesian authorities,'€ Moeldoko said in a recent interview with The Jakarta Post.

He made the statement following the shootout, which left Jayapura Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Alfred Papare and a soldier identified as Chief Sgt. Tugino injured. According to the Papua Police, the assailants were led by Mathias Wenda.

Your comments:

Will they '€œhunt'€ them across the border in Papua, which is a sovereign country? What right do they have to do this? If these people are criminals, the police officials of Papua should be told so that they can handle the situation.

Charlez Jarret

The Indonesian army has to fight against Papuan separatists. The Indonesian people are behind you and it is the will of Indonesians which shall prevail.

Panis Angelicus

Before Indonesia renamed Irian Jaya to '€œPapua'€ and then '€œPapua'€ and '€œWest Papua'€, the term West Papua had long been adopted to designate the western half of the island of New Guinea.

The eastern half is Papua New Guinea or PNG, whereas the western half is West Papua.

Indonesian migrants have been encouraged to flood West Papua within the last few decades.

It is arguable that non-Melanesian residents who were born in West Papua could be considered as natives, and hence be qualified for a referendum too (if organized).

Many Indonesians have migrated to West Papua for job opportunities or to make profits. These migrants probably would choose to go back to their hometowns if West Papua became independent.

Look at what happened in Timor Leste after independence. Many Indonesians left, not even thinking of becoming Timor Leste citizens.

F Frog Man

There may be many things to discuss in history but all that matters is the present because it is virtually impossible to rewrite history. The state of Israel for example is here to stay, despite any rhetoric from the Palestinians.

The only chance Dutch New Guinea had for independence was in the early 1960s. The world however has moved on and so too has the viability of independence given only a small part of these provinces has a majority Melanesian population.

Jagera

There is no doubt that some have learned lessons from the Dutch well.  I concur that it would be difficult for Papua to become a viable state. However to suggest that a drive for such action is '€œjust because specific ethnic groups think they should be independent'€ ignores the ongoing brutality.

Rusty Nails