MSG 22 – 1969 ‘Midnight Cry’ : PIF Resolution Looms! Again?

The most recent MSG Leaders Summit 22 failed to resolve the West Papua issue. But, for now.

We chronicle the long road to freedom for West Papua.

The critical points:

1. MSG Leaders Summit 22 held in Port Vila, Vanuatu from 23 – 24 August 2023 resolved to give one year moratorium before a decision is made on full membership for West Papua.

2. If full membership is granted, the process of decolonization is seen to be stepped up by MSG. Indonesia is playing its card to stop the decision citing its claim to sovereignty over the former Dutch colony.

3. Any UN resolution on West Papua requires the PIF collectively to respond to human rights reports including demands for self determination by indigenous Papuans brought to its notice.

4. West Papua is already before the PIF for deliberation. In 2018, it called for a fact – finding mission. Indonesia did not respond.

5. United Liberation Movement For West Papua (ULMWP) application for membership is to push the hand of PIF to act on West Papua.

So, here is the latest story of West Papua at the time MSG 22 met in Port Vila.

Key Trends:

✓ Armed clashes between state forces and the TPNPB have risen since 2018. Clashes increased by nearly 80% in 2021 in comparison with 2020.4

✓ Since 2018, armed clashes have spread geographically outside of the traditional TPNPB stronghold in the Black Triangle regencies of Puncak Jaya, Lanny Jaya, and Mimika (IPAC, 13 July 2022), with notable increases in the regencies of Intan Jaya, Puncak, and Yahukimo. Since the beginning of 2021, armed clashes between state forces and the TPNPB have been reported in over 20 new locations across the region where they had not previously been recorded in the ACLED dataset, which begins in 2015 for Indonesia.

✓ Violence targeting Papuan civilians by state forces and violence targeting civilians by the TPNPB have continued at high levels over the past two years, with a notable increase in TPNPB civilian targeting since 2020.

✓ Indonesian state security forces have dispersed or repressed peaceful protests featuring Papuans and Papuan groups more frequently than those not featuring Papuans and Papuan groups.

MSG 22 resolution on West Papua has implications in light of the story of West Papua.

The ‘ low – level insurgency’ seems more transformed in terms of science of armed combat aimed at the outcomes set.

For instance, TPNPB has moved from using rudimentary weapons to a growing supply of firearms, with police forces claiming that the TPNPB had purchased guns from dealers in Ambon, Papua New Guinea, and indirectly from the Philippines (Tribunnews, 23 May 2022).

On several occasions, members of state forces have been arrested for their involvement in gun trading with the TPNPB (Kompas, 24 February 2021). The increased supply of weapons has translated into more sustained battles as opposed to the hit-and-run incidents more often reported in the past (IPAC, 13 July 2022)

Read. Here:

(Photo caption: PM James Marape – he steps up on PNG/ Indonesia bilateral relations; in Jakarta, today for business deals signed with Indonesia; MSG 22 – West Papua issue left on the table for PIF to address; ULMWP leaders and diplomats – diplomatic option for roadmap to freedom for West Papua through decolonization still on track?; West Papua issue – it cannot be rushed, nor wished away)