Indonesia has again sent a junior diplomat to defend its national interest to protect its easternmost provinces at the United Nations General Assembly, where the small island nation of Vanuatu renewed its call to investigate alleged human rights violations in Papua. In a pre-recorded statement at the General Assembly over the weekend, Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Bob Loughman said there was a “selective approach” in addressing human rights violations in the region, claiming that the people of West Papua continued to suffer from human rights abuses. Loughman said the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum had made a call last year for the Indonesian government to allow the UN Office of the Human Rights Commissioner to visit Papua and West Papua provinces. “To date there has been little progress on this front. I therefore called on the Indonesian government to pl...