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Papua: Vanuatu barking up the wrong tree
As far as Vanuatu is concerned, to continue raising the Papuan issue internationally will lead it nowhere. It is just like barking up the wrong tree, for no country will support Vanuatu, as has been made crystal clear all these years. Hence, getting rid of the Papuan issue from its international agenda is highly recommended to build a more productive cooperation with Indonesia.
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Thousands of people in Dogiyai regency in Papua rally against racism and demand referendum on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. (Handout/-)
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round 190 countries gathered in New York for the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) from Sept. 17 to 30. Its themes included galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion. As sovereign nations, however, participating countries were free to touch upon any issue pertinent to their supreme national interests.
United States President Donald Trump, for example, used this event to promote his “America first” ideology, stating that: “The future doesn’t belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots” (Politico, Sept. 24).
It is in this context that prior to and during the UNGA session, the so-called leader of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda, and his cohorts had moved around to lobby countries, especially state parties to the Pacific Islands Forum and Melanesian Spearhead Group, trying to convince them to pressure Indonesia to organize a referendum in Papua.
And at the same time, banking on the already tense politics in Papua, mainly due to the heinous killing of around 20 construction workers in Nduga regency last December, Benny stands accused of provoking a series of brutal acts in the restive province, in which scores of innocent people perished in Jayapura and Wamena respectively, in an attempt to attract the General Assembly’s attention.
More than 30 innocent people were dastardly killed and around 10,000 have become displaced.
This tragedy has exposed the true colors of Benny, defeating his claim of being a peaceful freedom fighter, as he has tried desperately to portray during his recent interview with the BBC. The recent killings, looting and burning of civilian property and public infrastructure in Papua speak volumes of this man, who apparently will do anything imaginable to justify his end. It is rather shameful that Vanuatu has — all these years — failed to see this fact and was willingly manipulated by Benny to become ULMWP’s mouthpiece, by constantly raising the Papuan issue at international forums.
The fact that only Vanuatu out of 196 participating countries in the General Assembly session pressed for Papuan self-determination is clear evidence. Indeed, the question of Papua had long been put to rest when the UNGA issued Resolution No. 2504/1969.
