Papuan students on Java face increased pressures from Islamist, nationalist groups

Ivany Atina Arbi, Wahyoe Boediwardhana, and Benny Mawel
The Jakarta Post

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Jakarta, Surabaya, and Jayapura / Mon, August 19, 2019 / 07:58 am

A motorcyclist passes by a banner which says “Residents of Candi district in Semarang refuse Papua’s separation from Indonesia. The NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia] is undisputed” in front of a dormitory for Papuan students in Semarang, Central Java.(JP/Suherdjoko)

Papuan students on Java Island have repeatedly become the target of intimidation by Islamist and nationalist groups as armed conflict between security forces and separatist groups in Papua escalates. In the latest incident on Friday afternoon, scores of security forces along with civil militias from hard-line group Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and youth organization Pemuda Pancasila (PP) reportedly went to a Papuan student dormitory on Jl. Kalasan in Surabaya, East Java, and launched physical and verbal attacks against the students, following the finding of an Indonesian flag discarded near the dorm. According to the Surabaya Legal Aid Institute, which cited the account of a student staying in the dormitory, Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers allegedly banged on the door of the dorm while uttering curse words such as "monkey", “dogs” and “p...

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