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Jokowi's meeting with Papuan delegation 'misses the point'

“If the President really wants to help, he’d better finish Jakarta’s responsibilities by creating three human rights institutions in Papua, namely a human rights commission, a human rights court and a commission for freedom and reconciliation,” Usman said.

Gemma Holliani Cahya and Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post)
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Jakarta
Wed, September 11, 2019

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Jokowi's meeting with Papuan delegation 'misses the point' President Joko Widodo meets with Papuan public figures at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday. (JP/Seto Wardhana)

F

or the first time since Papuan students  in Surabaya, East Java were inflicted with racist abuse on Aug. 16, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo finally sat together with a delegation from Papua on Tuesday morning at the Jakarta presidential palace.

Many see the meeting as an attempt to diffuse tension following the protests against the abuse that broke out in several places in the past two weeks.

However, activists have said they were underwhelmed by the meeting as it did not address the current situation of Papua: their calls for self-determination and the protests against racial abuse and discrimination, among many other things.

The meeting was attended by 61 Papuan figures, including Ramses Ohee, the chairman of Barisan Merah Putih of Papua, a nationalist group, and Jayapura Legislative Council head Abisai Rollo.

In the meeting Abisai, the appointed representative of the group, told Jokowi about his concern for Papua’s people.

“Papua is rich with its natural resources, but it is not in line with the quality and the quantity of Papuan human resources. We’ve talked a lot about infrastructure development and natural resources, but we forget how important it is to develop the quality of the people of Papua,” Abisai said.

Abisai then made eight requests to Jokowi, including for the creation of five new administrative regions in Papua, building a presidential palace in Jayapura and building dormitories for protecting the safety of Papuan students across Indonesia.

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