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‘Listen humbly to Papuan concerns,’ Catholic Church tells govt
“Papuans already have many emotional scars from security forces, [the government] should take care that its response to the current situation doesn’t open more wounds,” he said.
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Indigenous community members gather in Deiyai regency in Papua to continue protesting against racial abuse of Papuans on Aug. 26. (JP/Courtesy of Dominikus Surabut)
T
he Catholic Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) has called on the government to be humble in its response to the ongoing unrest in Papua and West Papua.
“I think that the best approach is through dialogue,” Father Paulus Christian Siswantoko, secretary of the KWI’s Council on Laity, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. “The government should open a dialogue with the people of Papua and listen humbly to their concerns, complaints and struggles.”
Siswantoko said that with tensions running high, the government should be the first to try and calm the situation by being humbling itself and being a good listener.
“What the Papuan people want is to be listened to and to feel valued,” he said.
He said that a security approach should be the government’s last resort, especially given past clashes between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police and civilians in the region.
“Papuans already have many emotional scars from security forces, [the government] should take care that its response to the current situation doesn’t open more wounds,” he said.
On Sunday, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said the government had so far deployed an additional 6,000 joint security forces to Papua and West Papua provinces.
