The chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Benny Wenda, is being considered for the Freedom of Oxford award.
West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda. Photo: RNZI/ Koroi Hawkins
Mr Wenda and his family are based in the United Kingdom city where he was granted asylum in 2002 after fleeing Indonesian rule in West Papua
The Oxford Student reports that the city’s council was this week set to debate whether to grant the award to Mr Wenda in recognition of his long fight for indigenous rights.
He has been campaigning extensively on the international stage for West Papuan independence, and helped establish a Free West Papua office in Oxford.
Other notable recipients of the award include the former British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, as well as former South African president Nelson Mandela.
However, Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi was recently stripped of her Freedom of Oxford honour due to the Rohingya refugee crisis in her country.
Source: Radio New Zealand
