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Jakarta-Papua tensions rise in Melbourne, Ambon
Several Papuan students in Ambon, Maluku, reportedly received intimidation and verbal abuse from locals and TNI personnel ahead of the Dec. 1 rally.
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ensions between Jakarta and Papua have risen in Melbourne, Australia, and Ambon, Maluku, as Papuans celebrate what they have claimed as the birth date of the West Papua nation, Dec. 1.
The Foreign Ministry has filed a protest to the Australian government over an incident where the Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag, a symbol of the Papuan independence movement, was shown at the Indonesian Consulate in Melbourne.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said several unidentified persons had broken into the consulate to raise the Bintang Kejora flag.
“It happened in the morning and lasted about 15 minutes. They trespassed, put up [the flag] and then took it down,” Faizasyah said on Wednesday, tempo.co reported.
He said the local police soon after arrived at the consulate for an investigation.
“The government condemns this activity and has asked the Australian authorities to punish the trespassers,” Faizasyah said.
The incident was posted on Twitter by user @Tbuch2, who said several people had entered the consulate grounds and two climbed atop of the consulate building. One person showed a banner with the Bintang Kejora flag and the message “Free West Papua” emblazed on it. Another person held up the Bintang Kejora flag along with a banner reading, “TNI [Indonesian Military] stop killing Papua.”
It was not the first the Bintang Kejora flag was raised in Australia.
On January 6, 2017, unknown persons trespassed into the Indonesian Consulate in Melbourne and raised the Bintang Kejora flag inside the consulate grounds.
Several Australian activists showed up with the Bintang Kejora flag at the Leichhardt town hall in Sydney on Dec. 1, 2019.
On Feb. 11, Australia’s Green Party leader Adam Bandt was seen wearing a Bintang Kejora badge on his suit while meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Tensions in the provinces of Papua and West Papua have risen, with security forces and armed rebel groups clashing, some ending in violence and death. But annually, tensions between Jakarta and Papua always rise around and on Dec. 1, the date some Papuans claim to be the birth of the West Papua nation in 1961.
Several Papuan students in Ambon were reportedly intimidated and verbally abused by locals and TNI personnel ahead of the Dec. 1 rally.
Natan Weya, a Papuan student, claimed that dozens of residents, local stakeholders and TNI personnel visited a Papuan student dormitory in Wayame village, Teluk Ambon district, at 10 p.m. on Monday following a gathering of Papuan students at the dorm.
The students gathered to prepare for a rally protesting human rights violations in Papua, which was planned to be carried out the following day.
"They insisted on going inside the dorm, saying they wanted to check for suspicious people inside the dorm," Natan told The Jakarta Post.
The residents and TNI personnel left after a heated argument with the students, but they remained in the vicinity for 17 hours, limiting the students’ movement.
"We saw more and more local residents arriving in front of our dorm, at around 3 a.m., they threw stones at the building and destroyed a chair in front of it," Natan said.
The crowd dispersed at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, after representatives from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) contacted local stakeholders, the local military commander and police chief, and visited the dorm.
Maluku Komnas HAM head Benny Sarkol said the commission would conduct a further investigation into the incident.
"We'll meet all parties involved to find out whether intimidation and terror were used [against Papuan students]," Sarkol said.
Lawyers from the Pelita Harapan Legal Aid Institute (LBH Pelita Harapan) and Ansor Ambon Legal Aid Institute (LBH Ansor Ambon) who are assisting the students said they will report the incident to the authorities.
“It was a human rights violation conducted by the TNI and the National Police. We'll carry out [necessary] legal proceedings and prevent similar incidents from occurring again," said LBH Ansor Ambon head Al Walid Muhammad.
Local neighborhood unit (RT) head Dolvis Dacosta, however, denied that local residents had intimidated and attacked the students.
"We were only checking for suspicious people who had allegedly entered the dorm," he said.
Ambon Police spokesperson Second Insp. Izack Letemia also refuted the claim the police had taken part in intimidating the Papuan students.
"Police officers only helped secure the location so that Wayame village residents would not attack the dorm again," Izack said in a statement. (nal)
