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Security comes first in Papua, says Kalla ahead of UNGA address
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A building is on fire after fresh protests broke out on Monday in Wamena, Papua, where protesters set alight a government office and other buildings, according to an AFP reporter. (AFP/Vina Rumbewas)
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ice President Jusuf Kalla, who is set to speak before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States, this week, has stressed the need to maintain security amid simmering unrest in Papua.
At least 27 civilians were killed and 70 others injured in fresh clashes in Jayapura and Wamena, Papua, on Monday, according to authorities, prompting the government to block internet services again in the two cities.
“Security comes first, then we take legal steps to find out who’s guilty. It is security, then legal measures, and after that reconciliation,” Kalla said in a recorded statement obtained by The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Protests and rallies have taken place in Papua’s major cities several times since late August, triggered by racial abuse of Papuan students in East Java.
Kalla, who made the point that some of the victims in Monday’s clashes were not Papuans, said that the government had to express its condolences on the deaths and that he was in close contact with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and other government officials over the matter.
Kalla is slated to speak at the UN General Assembly in the 11th plenary meeting on Thursday afternoon New York time, or Friday morning Jakarta time, in the same session with leaders of Micronesia and Tuvalu -- which are members of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF), a grouping that has been calling for an investigation into rights abuses in Papua.
The Indonesian government is predicted to receive criticism over alleged rights abuses in Papua -- which have been a recurring issue raised by some of the Pacific island countries at the UN General Assembly in the past.
