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Govt gets to grips with Papua
Jokowi directly held the meeting on Friday night after returning from a visit to Yogyakarta. There have been mounting calls for the government, including Jokowi himself, to conduct a dialogue with residents in the provinces to end the crisis.
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Thousands of people in Dogiyai regency in Papua rally against racism and demand referendum on Aug. 26. (Handout/-)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration is scrambling to end two-week long unrest in Papua and West Papua as rival groups of protesters have begun to clash on the streets of Jayapura.
Residents, many of whom are believed to be nonindigenous Papuans, took action on Friday against Papuan protesters who, the former claimed, had rioted and vandalized the main roads and facilities connecting Abepura and Entrop districts with the city center, during anti-Jakarta rallies in the city.
A string of protests broke out in cities and regencies in the provinces following physical and racial abuse against Papuan students by security personnel in Surabaya, East Java on Aug. 16.
Jokowi held a Cabinet meeting on Friday night to address the crisis, after Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto held a dialogue in Jakarta earlier that day with several Papuan and West Papuan leaders to end the riots.
The figures included retired Navy officer and former minister Freddy Numberi, Golkar Party politician Yorrys Raweyai, youth leader Samuel Tabuni and former diplomat Theofilus Waimuri.
Concerns were mounted from the Papuan figures that the security situation in the provinces would continue to worsen if the government refused to open dialogues.
Samuel, a young figure from Nduga, another conflict-stricken regency in Papua, and also the director of Papua Language Institute, urged the government to hold peaceful dialogues with protesters instead of using force to end the protests.
