A movement dedicated to peaceful self-determination among indigenous groups in the Pacific is the latest group in Aotearoa to add support for struggling Papuan students caught in Aotearoa New Zealand after an abrupt cancellation of their scholarships.

About 70 Papuan students are currently in New Zealand but more than half have been negatively impacted on by the sudden removal of their Indonesian government scholarships earlier this year.

Pax Christi Aotearoa New Zealand has added its voice to media academics, church groups, community groups such as the Whānau Hub, and Green and Labour MPs in appealing for special case visas to be granted for the almost 40 students still stuck in the country trying to complete their qualifications.

It has also donated $1000 to the students fundraising campaign to assist with their living and accommodation costs while appeals have been made to some educational institutions to waive tuition fees.

A Pax Christi group met with a delegation of the Papuan students at the Friends’ House in Auckland last week.

“The 40 or so students across several institutions who are the object of our concern have been suddenly faced with the cancellation of their scholarships awarded by the Indonesian government,” said Pax Christi spokesperson Kevin McBride in an appeal to Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi this month.

He said efforts by the International Alliance of Papuan Student Associations Overseas (IAPSAO) and other relevant bodies to address their plight had been unsuccessful.

‘Perilous situations’
This had left many of them in “perilous situations” over the status of their visas and their ability to complete their qualifications.

Professor David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report and a specialist Pacific journalism educator for the past 30 years, is also one of the people who have appealed for special case visas for the students.

In a letter late last month to the minister, he said the students had been “unfairly treated” by the abrupt cancellation of their Indonesian scholarships.

He described it as an “unprecedented action” and that they were Melanesian students and ought to be “considered as Pacific Islanders” for completing their studies in New Zealand.

In an earlier open letter to the minister, Dr Robie said Papuan students studying in Australia and New Zealand faced “tough and stressful challenges apart from the language barrier”.

McBride said that in this Asia-Pacific region of the world, a predominant basis for division was colonisation and the effects of colonisation.

“Over many years, members of our Pax Christi section have been able to visit West Papua and to work with the mainly church-based groups there intent in improving the capacity of their people to play a significant role in the development of their nation,” he said.

Assistance with education
“Often this involves assisting them to gain educational qualifications in overseas countries and helping them cope with problems associated with that process.”

Pax Christi had been able to strengthen relationships and understanding.

“We have been hosting seminars and dialogue with sympathetic groups here in Aotearoa and across the international Pax Christi movement, which includes an Indonesian section,” McBride said.

Laurens Ikinia, a 26-year-old Papuan postgraduate communications student and the media spokesperson of IAPSAO, welcomed the assistance from Pax Christi and other groups and thanked New Zealand for its generosity.

“We are determined to finish our studies if we can,” he said.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A West Papuan international student in Aotearoa New Zealand has devoted hundreds of hours to a non-profit organisation and opened a door to a new career.

Arnold Yoman, 19, came to New Zealand in 2019 from the Papuan provincial capital Jayapura on an Indonesian government scholarship and has been studying at Awatapu College in Palmerston North.

The school’s international department had a programme in Manawatū to get students involved in business during their first summer separated from overseas friends and family.

Yoman — a younger son of Reverend Socratez Yoman, president of the Fellowship of Baptist Churches in West Papua, who visited New Zealand in 2016 — started volunteering at Wholegrain Organics when he could not go home because of covid-19 border closures.

“I was welcomed to volunteer by the Wholegrain Organics farm and cafe and liked it so much that I asked to stay on after the holidays were over,” he said.

He volunteered at Wholegrain Organics’ farm during the school holidays and once it became obvious he had a passion and a knack for horticulture, the school started working with Wholegrain Organics so he could continue his work and get National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) credits.

Yoman’s work is through Wholegrain Organics’ hands-on food programme, where he plants, maintains and harvests organic produce for the community.

500 hours by the end
He will have completed more than 500 hours by the end of his voluntary work.

He is in his final year of school and wants to stay in New Zealand to study horticulture at Lincoln University in Canterbury next year.

Wholegrain Organics’ hands-on food programme has been running since 2015, a non-profit scheme working with young people in community programmes like a regenerative vegetable farm and a training kitchen and deli.

The programme’s food technology, nutrition and horticulture educator Gosia Wiatr said they loved having young people involved because it gave them access to quality and inclusive learning opportunities.

“Arnold’s work ethic has been an encouragement for other young people in the programme.

“International students have always been a great part of our programme, so we wanted to support the students who were separated from their families over the holidays.

“We’ve been happy about their success stories, with students finding new career paths, improving their English and enriching their time in New Zealand as a result.”

Republished with permission from Stuff.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Kia ora Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi

It is unconscionable. A bewildering and grossly unfair crisis for 34 young Papuan students – 25 male and 9 female – the hope for the future of the West Papua region, the Melanesian half of Papua New Guinea island ruled by Indonesia.

They were part of a cohort of 93 Papuan students studying in Aotearoa New Zealand on local provincial autonomy government scholarships, preparing for their careers, and learning or improving their English along the way. They were also making Pacific friendships and contacts.

They were fast becoming a “bridge” to New Zealand. Ambassadors for their people.

And then it all changed. Suddenly through no fault of their own, 41 of them were told out of the blue their scholarships were being cancelled and they had to return home.

Their funds were cut with no warning. Many of them had accommodation bills to pay, university fees to cover and other student survival debts.

They were abandoned by their own government, some of them being close to completing their degrees of diplomas. Appeals to both the provincial governments in Papua and the central government in Jakarta – even to President Joko Widodo — were ignored.

Yes, it is unconscionable.

New Zealand help?
Surely New Zealand can respond to this Pacific plea for help?

Asia Pacific Report first published a story about the plight of these students back on January 27. Since then many stories have been written about the students’ struggle to complete their qualifications, including Māori Television, Newsroom, Tagata Pasifika, RNZ Pacific, and Wairarapa Times-Age, and Tabloid Jubi, Cendrawasi Pos and Suara Papua in Papua.

An interview by Laurens Ikinia with Tagata Pasifika last month.   Video: Sunpix

They must finish their studies here in New Zealand because returning home to a low wage economy, high unemployment, the ravages of the covid-19 pandemic, and an insurgency war for independence will ruin their education prospects.

Papuan students studying in Australia and New Zealand face tough and stressful challenges apart from the language barrier. As Yamin Kogoya, a Brisbane-based West Papuan commentator, says from first-hand experience:

“Papuan students abroad face many difficulties, including culture shock and adjustments, along with anxiety due to the deaths of their family members back in West Papua, which take a toll on their study.

“As well as inconsistencies and delays in Jakarta’s handling of funds, corruption, harassment, and intimidation also contribute to this crisis.”

At present, out of 17 students currently studying at the Universal College of Learning (UCOL) in Palmerston North, only 10 are able to attend classes. Seven students cannot attend because of their visa status and tuition fees which have not been paid.

Yesterday Teanau Tuiono was interviewed on @TeAo_Official to speak on the scholarship funding cut impacting Western Papuan students in Aotearoa. @teanau_tuiono provides great context for all those wanting to learn about this issue and how to help!https://t.co/P92j1ORrwQ

— Te Mātāwaka (@Te_Matawaka) March 23, 2022

Five students at AUT
At Auckland University of Technology, out of five students studying there, one is doing a masters degree, four are studying for diplomas and one is not enrolled because the government has not paid tuition fees.

Out of the 41 recalled students, the visas for some of them have already expired while others are expiring this month.

Of the 34 students still in New Zealand and determined to complete their studies, the breakdown is understood to be as follows:

UCOL Palmerston North – 15
Institute of the Pacific United (IPU) New Zealand – 6
AUT University – 4
Ardmore Flying School – 2
Waikato University – 2
Canterbury University – 1
Massey University – 1
Unitec – 1
Victoria University – 1
Awatapu College – 1

The students have rallied and are working hard to try to rescue their situation as they are optimistic about completing their studies. The Green Party has taken up advocacy on their behalf.

The Papuans are communicating with the NZ International Students Association, NZ Students Union and NZ Pasifika Students.

Community groups such as the Whānau Hub in Mt Roskill, Auckland, have assisted with food and living funds. A givealittle page has been set up for relief and has raised more than $6500 so far.

But far more is needed, and an urgent extension of their student visas is a must.

‘Grateful for support’
“We’re so grateful to all Kiwis across the country for their generous support for us at our time of desperate need,” says communication coordinator Laurens Ikinia of the International Alliance of Papuan Students Associations Overseas (IAPSAO) and who is a postgraduate student at AUT.

“We’re also grateful to all the tertiary institutions and universities for understanding the plight of the West Papuan students.”

Papuan students are speaking today on the issue at a Pacific “media lunch” in a double billing along with Fiji’s opposition National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad at the Whānau Community Centre in Auckland’s Mt Roskill.

Just last Monday, many worried parents and families of students affected by this sudden change of scholarship policy gathered to meet Papua Governor Lukas Enembe in Jayapura to plead their case.

Hopefully, Indonesian Ambassador Fientje Maritje Suebu, ironically also a Papuan, will read this appeal too. The situation is an embarrassment for Indonesia at a time when the republic is trying to foster a better image with our Pacific neighbours.

Minister Faafoi, surely New Zealand can open its arms and embrace the Papuan students, offering them humanitarian assistance, first through extended visas, and second helping out with their financial plight.

Waaa waaa waaa.

Dr David Robie
Editor
Asia Pacific Report

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz