Governor Lukas Enembe of Indonesia’s Melanesian province of Papua has expressed support for a call from the Papuan Student Association Oceania (PSAO) for a New Zealand-Papuan scholarship.

The statement has been made after a relentless campaign by the Papuan advocacy group, which is made up of the PSAO and other NGOs in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The group has been advocating in response to the loss of Papuan students’ scholarships since January.

Governor Enembe expressed his appreciation to the New Zealand government for the opportunity given to Papuan students to pursue their education at New Zealand education providers after Indonesian scholarships were curtailed for about 40 students.

He also thanked the guardian parents in New Zealand who generously hosted the students in their homes, churches, and communities.

The Papuan students are sent to study in New Zealand at different levels — from high school to tertiary level studies. The students are spread across the country.

The warm message expressed by Governor Enembe through his spokesperson Rifai Darus is a follow-up to a recent official visit made by the New Zealand Embassy in Jakarta to the Papuan provincial government in Jayapura.

The delegation was led by the embassy’s Second Secretary (political affairs) Patrick Fitzgibbon.

Pemerintah Selandia Baru berencana meningkatkan pemberian beasiswa bagi Putra-Putri Papua yang menjalani studi di negara penghasil kiwi tersebut. https://t.co/yBng7pALhH

— Pemerintah Provinsi Papua (@PemprovPapua) August 21, 2022

NZ, Papuan cooperation
Antara news agency reports that the visit was to discuss cooperation between New Zealand and the Papuan government, including education.

They also talked about potential cooperation in the future.

The governor, through spokesperson Darus, said he had expressed his gratitude to the New Zealand government.

“Governor Enembe positively welcomes an increase in the New Zealand Government Scholarship,” said Darus.

Governor Enembe hopes that the offer from the New Zealand government would help about two dozen existing students who are currently still studying in New Zealand.

The governor said that the New Zealand scholarship would also help the Papuan government in addressing the funding cut issue.

“With the intention and plan of the New Zealand government to also assist in the granting of scholarships to Papuan students, it becomes good news for Papuan students. Now they can continue their education and pursue their dreams,” Enembe said through spokersperson Darus.

Meeting the ambassador
Darus said Governor Lukas was due to meet the New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia in Jakarta soon. The meeting would discuss education and scholarships for Papuan students in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Governor Enembe offered a message to all Papuan students to focus on their studies.

He also said he was proud of the students who were studying hard, and studying in a foreign country was not easy.

“The governor also expressed his pride in all Papuan students scattered in many countries, and hopes that later on all the knowledge and skills obtained can be applied to realising the vision of Papua Rising, independent and prosperous with justice,” said Darus.

In May, out of the affected students whose scholarships had been terminated, the Human Resource Department of Papua Province (HRD) said there were 59 students currently studying in New Zealand, ranging from vocational studies to bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees.

The 59 students are still sponsored by the Papuan provincial government.

On 17 December 2021, the Papuan HRD issued a termination letter of scholarship for 40 students in Aotearoa New Zealand. The order to pack up and return home was given without any initial notification.

The government claimed that this action was taken due to poor academic performance.

Papuan advocacy group calls for New Zealand scholarship to aid students

Underlying reason
However, the PSAO has demonstrated that the claim had no foundation. A source from the HRD of Papua province said the underling reason for the termination of the scholarship was the revocation by the central Jakarta government of the governor’s authority to manage the education funds.

Asia Pacific Report says that out of 40 affected students, 12 students had returned to Indonesia and Papua for various reasons. The remaining 28 students are still in New Zealand and have been receiving support from New Zealanders and groups across the country.

Stuff reports that 8 of 28 affected students are now working for V-Pro Construction in Manawatū. The fate of the remaining affected students has been taken up by the students’ association.

The PSAO, the Oceania branch of the International Alliance of Papuan Students Associations Overseas, expressed thanks to every university, NGO, church and stakeholders who have extended support.

The PSAO also thanked the New Zealand government, particularly Immigration New Zealand, for granting visas to affected students.

Laurens Ikinia is communications spokesperson of the Papuan Students Association Oceania (PSAO).

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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

As a child, Efika Kora remembers watching planes glide over her remote village in the Pacific.

Transfixed, she imagined that one day she would be the one flying them.

Now, just two semesters away from completing a diploma of aviation at an Adelaide school, the 24-year-old has been told by Indonesian authorities she must return to her home country.

It came as a complete shock to Kora, who is among a group of more than 140 Indigenous West Papuan students in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States who had their Papuan government scholarships terminated without warning.

It means they would have to return home part way through their degrees or diplomas, a situation that has been described as highly unusual.

“To be honest, I cried,” Kora said.

“In a way, [it’s] like your right to education has been stripped away from you.”

16 students ordered home
In Australia, 16 students have been told to return home.

A letter to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra, dated February 8, from the Papuan provincial government said the students were to be repatriated because they had not finished their studies on time.

The letter said they had to return to West Papua by February 15, but it wasn’t until a month later — on March 8 — that the students were first told about the letter in a meeting with the Indonesian embassy.

“I was very, very shocked. And my mind just went blank,” Kora said.

The Indonesian Embassy and the Papuan provincial government have not responded to the ABC’s questions, including about the delay in relaying the message.

Students told ‘you have to take turns’
When the students asked for more details, they were told by the Indonesian Embassy that the five-year duration of their scholarships had now lapsed.

The ABC has seen text messages from an embassy official to one of the students, saying the decision was final.

“There will be no extension of the scholarship because there are still many Papuan students who also need scholarships. So you have to take turns,” one message read.

Kora said she wasn’t aware of a five-year limit to her scholarship.

“We never had like a written letter [saying] our scholarship will be going for five years,” she said.

She said she was told, verbally, she had been awarded the scholarship in 2015, and began her aviation diploma in 2018 after completing language studies.

A number of students have told the ABC they were also not given a formal offer letter or contract stipulating the conditions and duration of their scholarship.

Some students signed contract
Some students said they signed a contract in 2019 — well after their scholarships had commenced — which outlined durations for certain degrees, but Kora said she didn’t sign this document.

Business student Jaliron Kogoya said he also didn’t sign any such agreements.

A sponsorship letter from the Papuan government, issued in 2020, guarantees funding for his degree at the University of South Australia until July this year.

He has also been cut off.

“They just tell us to go home and then there is no hope for us,” Kogoya said.

The University of South Australia said it had been working closely with the students and the Papuan government since they began studying at the university two years ago.

“We are continuing to provide a range of supports to the students at this challenging time,” a spokeswoman said.

About 84 students in the United States and Canada, plus 41 in New Zealand, have also been told by the Papuan government that their scholarships had ended and they must return home.

Programme plagued with administrative issues
While the Papuan government scholarship aims to boost education for Indigenous students, the programme has been plagued with administrative problems.

Several students told the ABC their living allowances, worth $1500 per month, and tuition fees, were sometimes paid late, meaning they could not enrol in university courses and struggled to pay rent.

Kora said late payments held back her academic progression.

Her aviation degree takes approximately four semesters to complete, but Kora said there were certain aspects of her training that she could not do because of unpaid fees.

The ABC has seen invoices from her aviation school, Hartwig Air, that were due in 2018 but were not paid until two years later.

Fees for her current semester, worth $24,500, were paid more than three months late, in October last year.

Kora said there were moments when she felt like giving up.

‘What’s the point?’
“What’s the point of even studying if these things are delaying my studies?” she said.

Kora believes she may have been able to graduate sooner if her fees had been paid on time.

Hartwig Air would not comment on her situation.

But an academic report issued by the school in February this year said Kora was “progressing well with her flying” and getting good results on most of her exams.

Kora said it did not make sense to send her home now because her fees for the current semester had already been paid.

“It’s a waste of investment,” she said.

“If we’re not bringing any qualifications back home, it’s a shame not just for us, but also for the government in a way.”

Students turn to food banks, churches
In the United States, Daniel Game has faced similar struggles.

He was awarded a Papuan government scholarship in 2017.

Game said he was told the scholarship would last five years but did not receive a formal offer letter or contract at the time.

After completing a general science degree, he was accepted into Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Oregon, to begin studying aeronautical science in 2019.

It is a prestigious institution and he was proud to get in.

But, when it came time to enrol, he couldn’t because the government did not issue a sponsorship letter to guarantee his funding.

Game sent multiple emails and made calls to the government’s human resources department requesting the document.

The letter never came
He said he was told the letter would be issued, but that never happened.

During this time, Game continued to receive a living allowance from the Papuan government and was told his scholarship was still valid.

In 2020, Game paid for his own flight back to West Papua in the middle of the pandemic to try to resolve the issue in person.

When he visited the department office, his sponsorship letter was issued immediately.

The ordeal set Game’s studies back more than 18 months.

His sponsorship letter, seen by the ABC, guarantees his funding until July 2023 but now he’s also been told to return home.

“Most of us, we spend our time and energy and work really hard … it’s not fair,” Game said.

Staying in the US
With just a few months until he’s due to graduate, Game has decided to stay in the US.

His family are funding his university tuition, but without a living allowance, Game said he was struggling to make ends meet.

“It’s really hard, especially being in the US,” he said.

“For food, I usually go out searching local churches and food pantries where I’ll be able to get free stuff.”

‘It doesn’t make sense’

Back in Australia, students are also in financial strife.

Kora has started picking fruit and vegetables on local farms to make ends meet since her living allowance was cut off in November last year.

Tried to find part-time jobs
“We tried to find part-time jobs here and there to just cover us for our rent,” she said.

She and other students are hoping to stay in Australia and finish their degrees.

From a low-income family, Kora cannot rely on her parents, so she is calling on Australian universities and the federal government for support.

“I just want to make my family proud back home to know that actually, someone like me, can be something,” she said.

The Australian West Papua Association of South Australia has launched a fundraising campaign to pay some students’ university fees and rent.

Kylie Agnew, a psychologist and association member, said she was concerned for their wellbeing.

“Not being able to finish your studies, returning to a place with very low job prospects … there’s a lot of stress that the students are under,” she said.

Perplexing decision
Jim Elmslie is co-convenor of the West Papua Project at the University of Wollongong, which advocates for peace and justice in West Papua.

He said the decision to send students home so close to finishing their degrees was perplexing.

“After having expended probably in excess of $100,000, or maybe considerably more, in paying multiple years’ university fees and living allowances … it doesn’t make sense,” Dr Elmslie said.

In a text message to one student in Australia, an Indonesian Embassy official said the students could seek alternative funding for their studies, but they were “no longer the responsibility” of the Papuan provincial government.

The text message also said the students would receive help to transfer to relevant degrees at universities in Indonesia when they returned home.

But Dr Elmslie said the alternatives were not ideal.

“If you start a degree course in Australia, to me, it’s much better … to finish that degree course,” he said.

“And then you have a substantial academic qualification.”

President of the Council of International Students Australia Oscar Ong said the situation was highly unusual.

He said that, while some international students weren’t able to graduate within the duration of their scholarship, for so many to be recalled at once was unprecedented.

Legislative change and redistribution of funding
The Papuan provincial government did not respond to the ABC’s detailed questions about the scholarship program.

Local media reports suggest the issue may be linked to a redistribution of funding.

The scholarship programme was set up by the Papuan provincial government, with money from the Indonesian central government under a Special Autonomy Law.

Passed in 2001, the bill granted special autonomy to the West Papua region, following a violent and decades-long fight for independence.

The old law expired in November and new legislation was passed, with an overall boost in finance to the region but with certain funds, including support for education, going towards districts and cities instead of provincial governments.

That revised law has sparked protests in West Papua, with critics claiming it is an extension of colonial rule that denies Indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination.

An Interior Ministry official from the Indonesian government is quoted in local media as saying there needed to be a joint conversation between the Papuan provincial government and the region’s districts and cities about the future of scholarship funding.

The ABC has been unable to independently verify whether the students’ scholarship terminations are linked to this legislative change.

Additional reporting for Pacific Beat by Hellena Souisa and Erwin Renaldi. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe had an hour-long meeting with Russian Ambassador Lyudmila Vorobyeva, accompanied by the director of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Jakarta this week. On the table, an invitation for President Vladimir Putin to visit Papua later this year.

The governor also had his small team with him — Samuel Tabuni (CEO of Papua Language Institute), Alex Kapisa (Head of the Papua Provincial Liaison Agency in Jakarta) and Muhammad Rifai Darus (Spokesman for the Governor of Papua).

As a result of this meeting, social media is likely to run hot with heated debate.

This isn’t surprising, considering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, hotly condemned in the West.

Speculation is rife whether Indonesia — as chair of the G20 group of nations — will invite President Putin to attend the global forum in Bali later this year.

Governor Enembe is not just another governor of another province of Indonesia — he represents one of the biggest settler-colonial provinces actively seeking independence.

Considering Enembe’s previous rhetoric condemning harmful policies of the central government, such as the failed Special Autonomy Law No.21/2021, this meeting has only added confusion, leaving both Indonesians and Papuans wondering about the motives for the governor’s actions.

Also, the governor has invited President Putin to visit Papua after attending the G20 meeting in Bali.

Whether President Putin would actually visit Papua is another story, but this news is likely to cause great anxiety for Papuans and Indonesians alike.

So, what was Monday’s meeting all about?

Papuan students in Russia
Spokesperson Muhammad Rifai said Governor Enembe had expressed deep gratitude to the government of the Russian Federation for providing a sense of security to indigenous Papuan students studying higher education in Russia.

He thanked the ambassador for taking good care of those who received scholarships from the Russian government as well as those who received scholarships from the Papua provincial government.

The scholarships were offered to Papuan students through the Russian Centre for Science and Culture, which began in 2016 and is repeated annually.

Under this scheme, Governor Enembe sent 26 indigenous Papuans to the Russian Federation on September 27, 2019, for undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

As of last year, Russia offered 163 places for Papuan students, but this number cannot be verified due to the high number of Indonesian students seeking education in Russia.

The ambassador also discussed the possibility of increasing the number of scholarships available to Papuan students who want to study in Russia. Governor Enembe appreciates  this development as education is a foundation for the land of Papua to grow and move forward.

The governor also said Russia was the only country in the world that would be willing to meet Papua halfway by offering students a free scholarship for their tuition fees.

Along with these education and scholarship discussions, Rifai said the governor wanted to talk about the construction of a space airport in Biak Island, in Cenderawasih Bay on the northern coast of Papua.

The governor was also interested in the world’s largest spaceport, Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is still operating today and he hoped to gain insight from the Russian government.

Building a Russian cultural museum in Papua
As part of strengthening the Russia-Papua relationship, Governor Enembe asked the Russian government to not only accept indigenous Papuan students, but to also transfer knowledge from the best teachers in Russia to students in Papua.

As part of the initiative, the governor invited Victoria from the Russian Centre for Science and Culture to Papua in order to inaugurate a Russian Cultural Centre at one of the local universities.

However, Governor Enembe’s desire to establish this relationship is not only due to Russian benevolence toward his Papuan students studying in Russia.

The Monday meeting with the Russian ambassador in Jakarta and his invitation to President Putin to visit Papua were inspired by deeper inspiration stories.

The story originated more than 150 years ago.

Governor Enembe was touched by the story he had heard of a Russian anthropologist who lived on New Guinea soil, and who had tried to save New Guinean people during one of the cruellest and darkest periods of European savagery in the Pacific.

Indigenous hero

His name was Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay (1846 –1888) — a long forgotten Russian messianic anthropologist, who fought to defend indigenous New Guineans against German, Dutch, British, and Australian forces on New Guinea island.

His travels and adventures around the world — including the Canary Islands, North Africa, Easter Island, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, the Philippines, and New Guinea — not only expanded his knowledge of the world’s geography, but most importantly his consciousness. This made him realise that all men are equal.

For a European and a scientist during this time, it was risky to even consider, let alone speak or write about such claims. Yet he dared to stand in opposition to the dominant worldview of the time — a hegemony so destructive that it set the stage for future exploitation of islanders in all forms: information, culture, and natural resources.

West Papua still bleeds as a result.

His campaign against Australian slavery of black islanders — known as blackbirding — in the Pacific between the 1840s and 1930s, and for the rights of indigenous people in New Guinea was driven by a spirit of human equality.

On Sunday, September 15, 2013, ABC radio broadcast the following statement about Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay:

He was handsome, he was idealistic and a mass of disturbing contradictions. He died young. That should have been enough to ensure his story’s survival – and it was in Russia, where he became a Soviet culture hero, not in the Australian colonies where he fought for the rights of colonised peoples and ultimately lost.

ironic and tragic
The term Melanesia emerged out of such colonial enterprise, fuelled by white supremacy attitudes. As ironic and tragic as it seems, Papuans in West Papua reclaimed the term and used it in their cultural war against what they consider as Asian-Indonesian colonisation.

It is likely that Miklouho-Maclay would have renamed and redescribed this region differently if he had been the first to name it, instead of French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville (the man credited with coining the term). He arrived too late, and the region had already been named, divided, and colonised.

In September 1871, Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay landed at Garagassi Point and established himself in Gorendu village in Madang Province. Here he built a strong relationship with the locals and his anthropological work, including his diaries, became well known in Russia. The village where he lived has erected a monument in his name.

Miklouho-Maclay’s diaries of his accounts of Papuans in New Guinea during his time there have already been published in the millions and read by generations of Russians. The translation of his dairies from Russian to English, titled Miklouho-Maclay – New Guinea Diaries 1871-1883 can be read here.

C.L. Sentinella, the translator of the diaries, wrote the following in the introduction:

The diaries give us a day-to-day account of a prolonged period of collaborative contact with these people by an objective scientific observer with an innate respect for the natives as human beings, and with no desire to exploit them in any way or to impose his ideas upon them. Because of Maclay’s innate respect, this recognition on his part that they shared a common humanity, his reports and descriptions are not distorted to any extent by inbuilt prejudices and moral judgements derived from a different set of values.

In 2017, the PNG daily newspaper The National published a short story of Miklouho-Maclay under the title “A Russian who fought to save Indigenous New Guinea”.

The Guardian, in 2020, also shared a brief story of him under title “The dashing Russian adventurer who fought to save indigenous lives.” The titles of these articles reflect the spirit of the man.

After more than 150 years, media headlines emphasise his legacy. One of his descendants, Nickolay Miklouho-Maclay, who is currently director of Miklouho Maclay Foundation in Madang, PNG, has already begun to establish connections with local Papuans both at the village level and with the government to build connections based on the spirit of his ancestor.

Enembe seeks Russian reconnection
Governor Enembe believes that Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay’s writings and work profoundly influence the Russian psyche and reflect how the Russian people view the world — especially Melanesians.

This was what motivated him to arrange his meeting with the Russian ambassador on Monday. The Russians’ hospitality toward Papuan students is connected to the spirit of this man, according to the governor.

It is a story about compassion, understanding, and brotherhood among humans.

The story of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay is linked to the PNG side of New Guinea. However, Governor Enembe said Nikolai’s story was also the story of West Papuans too now — because he fought for all oppressed and enslaved New Guineans, Melanesians, and Pacific islanders.

Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay’s ideas, beliefs and values — calling for the treatment of fellow human beings with dignity, equality and respect — are what are needed today.

This is partly why Governor Enembe has invited President Putin to visit Papua; he plans to build a cultural museum and statue in honour of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay.

“The old stories are dying, and we need new stories for our future,” Governor Enembe said. “I want to … share more of this great story of the Russian people and New Guinea people together.”

Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Time is running out for a group of West Papuan students in New Zealand whose scholarships were cut — out of the blue — by the Indonesian government

The sudden removal of government funding for the Papuan students has left many of them in financial dire straits on visas that are running out.

Forty two students learned of the termination of their scholarships at the beginning of this year. With deadlines approaching they have appealed to both the Indonesian government and MPs in New Zealand to see if they can fix their dashed hopes of a completed education.

Green Party MPs Ricardo Menendez March, Golriz Ghahraman and Teanau Tuiono penned a letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta requesting government to support for the students before they are deported.

They are calling for a scholarship fund to support the impacted students, a residency pathway for West Papuan students whose welfare has been affected, and an assurance that the students will have access to safe housing in affordable accommodation.

But according to Menendez March, the most urgent issue is the students’ visas — he is calling on the government to extend them due to special circumstances, such as those for Ukrainian nationals.

“What the situation in Ukraine taught us is that when there is political will, our immigration system can move relatively fast to provide solutions for people who are facing uncertainty,” he said. “The special visa that was created to support Ukrainian families show we could have an intervention to support these students.”

Quick move for Ukraine
Immigration moved quickly to ensure Ukrainians with family in New Zealand had an easier avenue to a two-year work visa as a part of the humanitarian support developed in response to the refugee crisis.

“Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said last week when the details were unveiled: ‘This is the largest special visa category we have established in decades to support an international humanitarian effort and, alongside the additional $4 million in humanitarian funding also announced today, it adds to a number of measures we’ve already implemented to respond to the worsening situation in Ukraine.’”

The Ukraine policy is expected to benefit around 4000 people, with Immigration streamlining processes to make sure they are supported sooner rather than later.

With just 42 West Papuan students now in this visa crisis, Menendez March said it would be easy enough for the Government to create a special category.

And more than that, it would be an opportunity for New Zealand to stand up for a Pacific neighbour.

“As a Pacific nation we do have a responsibility to support West Papuans,” he said. “I think this is a small but really tangible way that we could supporting the West Papuan community.”

For some of the students, returning home isn’t just a matter of giving up on whatever ambitions lay past graduation day – but also a safety risk.

Openly communicated
“The students have openly communicated in the past some of them may not necessarily face safe living conditions back at home,” Menendez March said, who met with the students last week along with Greens spokesperson for Pacific people Teanau Tuiono to discuss possible solutions.

Tuiono said there were multiple reasons why the New Zealand government should step in and offer support to the students.

“First, there’s the consistency thing — if we’re going to do this for people from the Ukraine, why not for West Papuans,” he said. “Also, we are part of the Pacific and we have signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”

The declaration, first adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007, establishes a framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.

“West Papuans are indigenous peoples who have been occupied by Indonesia, so there’s that recognition of a responsibility on an international level that we have signed up to,” Tuiono said.

The letter signed by the Green MPs was sent to Mahuta at the beginning of this month, but they say there has been no meaningful response. Meanwhile, some of the students are potentially just a matter of weeks away from deportation.

The decision to rescind the scholarship funds came as a shock to West Papuan students in New Zealand like Laurens Ikinia, who is in the final year of his Master of Communication at AUT. He hopes he will be allowed in the country until his upcoming graduation.

But despite the International Alliance of Papuan Student Associations Overseas calling on the Indonesian government to consult with it to try and resolve the issue, there has been no response.

“It is really heartbreaking for us as the central government of Indonesia and the provincial government have not given any positive responses to us,” Ikinia said. “The government still stick to their decision.”

Matthew Scott is a journalist writing for Newsroom on inequality, MIQ and border issues. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Indigenous students from West Papua studying at universities across Aotearoa are defying an order from the Indonesian government to return home.

In January, more than 40 students were told that Indonesia would no longer be funding autonomous West Papuan scholarships so they had to pack up and leave.

Laurens Ikinia of the Hubula tribe and fellow student Esniel Mirin of the Kimyal tribe, both from the central highlands of West Papua, say they have been stripped of their dream for a brighter future.

“The government has terminated about 42 students here in Aotearoa New Zealand who are the recipients of Papua provincial government scholarships and I am one of the students who was terminated and this is really worrying me,” Ikinia said.

Ikinia and Mirin have both been struggling to support themselves since the scholarship decision was made. Living costs are rising and tuition fees are high for overseas students here.

“What we are trying to do just to survive is do some part-time jobs as long as we can but, unfortunately, some students cannot work because of their visa conditions. I don’t know how long it’s going to take us but that’s what we are doing just to survive,” Ikinia said.

Mirin said he found it hard to talk about the issue as he was not able to support himself and not able to work.

“I’m trying to communicate with my close friends from the campus or the churches I attend and they help me a lot,” he said.

“We are calling the Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, to respond to our request so in the future we can continue our programmes and success because this is kind of Indonesians trying to manipulate our education rights.”

The Indonesian embassy gave a written response to Māori Television’s request for comment, stating that the scholarships were wholly managed by Papua’s democratically elected provincial government. The embassy also said:

“These students are part of a total of 593 students from Papua province receiving the ‘Papua Special Autonomy Scholarship’… only those who have exceeded the allocated time of the scholarship and those who cannot meet the academic requirements are being recalled.

“The decision to repatriate certain students does not impact on those students who remain on track with regards to their studies abroad.

“The assessment is also conducted to ensure other eligible students from Papua province also obtain the same opportunity in pursuing their studies.”

The embassy also said it had tried to resolve various aspects of the issue including possible outstanding tuition and living fees.

But for students such as Ikinia the suggestion he is being sent home because he has been failing, has no foundation.

“I came to New Zealand in 2016, I did my New Zealand language programme for five months and then I studied my international contemporary studies, bachelor programme, I studied in 2017 and then I finished in 2019 in three years and then I studied for my master’s programme in 2020,” he says.

“I’m just about to finish and then they put my name on the list and then they claim that I’m not making any progress, which is baseless. This is something that we have written a letter to the government to clarify — the evidence that the government used to categorise all these 42 students not making progress.”

Ikinia is reaching out to institutions, organisations and communities for their support on behalf of the Papuan Students Association of Oceania.

“We humbly request the people of Aotearoa, New Zealand to open your arms to welcome us as a Pacific family.

“It’s been a long, long time where West Papuans, indigenous peoples have not spoken about our education rights and we are calling for the sake of humanity.”

Marena Mane is a Te Ao Māori News reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Google images of a country or region can offer a wealth of information about the people and cultures that live there. Some images accurately portray reality while others present camouflage, attempting to deceive or twist our perception.

From a marketing standpoint, it’s all about selling the national identity, brands and products.

When you type “West Papua” or “West Papua genocide” into Google Image search, you are immediately confronted with some of the grossest human rights violations on Earth.

Images of other Melanesian island countries, conversely, display pristine, exotic beauty, presenting them as an ideal vocational playground for first-world self-exhausted tourists.

West Papua is a region where its public image is produced and controlled by those who want West Papua to mould to and represent their modern, capitalist ideals.

On the one hand, we have images of West Papua representing a hidden heaven on earth, with majestic glaciers, mountains, lush lowlands, mangrove swamps along the coastline, and coral reefs with a rich biodiversity.

On the other hand, we see images of Indonesian soldiers torturing, killing, bombing, and destroying ancestral homelands; we see images of West Papuan freedom fighters in their jungles with modern machine guns, performing their cultural rituals while declaring war on the Indonesian military.

Freeport’s gigantic hole – a graveyard for Papuans
At the centre of this tragic display of contradiction is the image of a giant gaping hole right in the middle of West Papua’s magnificent ancient glacier — a sacred home of local indigenous people.

Local elders say that this hole has become “a graveyard for Papuans”.

This hole was created by the discovery of a strange-looking, greenish-black rock on Gunung Jayawijaya (Mount Carstensz) by Dutch geologist Jean Jacques Dozy in 1936.

It took some 20 years before the discovery was brought to the attention of American geologist Forbes Wilson in 1959, who was the vice-president of Freeport Minerals Company at the time.

From 1960 to 1969, the Papuan people lived through a century of great historical significance. It began with a sense of hope and optimism as the Dutch prepared Papuans for independence in 1961.

This independence dream was taken to New York in 1962, only to be abandoned at the mercy of the United Nations, and then to Indonesia in 1963.

The controversial UN sponsored “Act of Free Choice” in 1969, which Papuans called “Act of No Choice”, ultimately sealed the fate of Papuans’ independence dream within Indonesia. It may seem that the world and UN have forgotten Papua’s dream, but Papuans have never lost sight of it and continue to die for or because of it.

The US-based Freeport-McMoRan was given the green light to begin digging this hole behind the scenes during that decade, during which Papua’s fate was controlled by world leaders in their cruel puppet show. For the newly created state of Indonesia, this was an economic blessing, but for Papuans it was a death sentence.

Over the past 60 years, this hole has taken the lives of many Papuan mothers, fathers, and children, creating an endless world of grief and mourning.

Papuans not happy, says Governor Enembe
It was these decade-old wounds and grievances that caused Governor Lukas Enembe, the current governor of Papua’s province, to erupt on February 7, 2022.

“Papuans are not happy. Papuans are not happy in all of Papua. Papuans are the most unhappy people on earth. You take note of that,” he said in a recent video posted by senior journalist Andreas Harsono on his Twitter account.

Gubernur Lukas Enembe: Kehidupan orang Papua tidak bahagia. Orang Papua tidak happy di seluruh Papua. Intan Jaya menangis, Puncak menangis, Nduga menangis, Pegunungan Bintang menangis dan Maybrat menangis. Orang tidak hidup aman di negeri kita sendiri ?https://t.co/VOsuJNOkpe pic.twitter.com/HvTVYo5yXx

— Andreas Harsono (@andreasharsono) February 9, 2022

Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe in the middle: Twitter image

The governor also said that some areas such as Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Star Mountains “cry” with the harsh conditions experienced by the Papuan people.

“Papuans do not live in happiness. Intan Jaya is crying, Puncak is crying, Nduga is crying, The Stars Mountains are crying, and Maybrat is crying. People are crying. People [Papuans] do not live safely in our own country. We were not born for that,” he said.

“We want to live happily. We want to live and enjoy happiness. Papuans have to live happily, that’s the main thing,” Governor Enembe said in a statement he made in a speech circulated on a video on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.

These areas, where the governor is referring to, are among the most militarised in West Papua.

Victor Yeimo, a prominent Papuan, said that over the past three years, Jakarta had sent 21,369 troops to West Papua, some of them referred to as “Satan Troops”, as reported by Arnold Belau on Asia-Pacific Report.

Sadly, this overwhelming military presence in West Papua is not a new phenomenon. Indonesia has been sending military troops equipped with western-made and supplied war machines since 1963.

The West Papua National Liberation Army of Free Papua Movement (OPM-TPNPB) is actively engaged in an ongoing war with Indonesian forces, which is being ignored by the international media.

The grace of Papuan mothers
In spite of the tragedies, grievances and the haunting images that Google displays, one story is rarely shown — The story of Papuan mothers. They are known for their resilience, courage, and indomitable will to live and work, despite the odds being stacked against them.

They are hard-working, compassionate, and strong — the backbone of Papuan society. They sacrifice everything to send their children to school and welcome foreigners with open arms.

There was a recent Tiktok video clip circulating in West Papua and Indonesia which received thousands of views and comments. The video footage featured a young Indonesian migrant weeping while singing in Papuan, the language of the Lani people of the highlands. Her name is Julitha Mathelda Wacano. She works in Tolikara, one of the newly created regions in the highlands of West Papua.

@pemilikcancer #stoprasisme #@olvaholvah.official #kobelumrasatinggaldengandorang#sadikasihselimut ##?? #fypシ ♬ original sound – Wizan Lewa Cidy481 – Tik Toker

The young Indonesian woman singing in the local Papuan language of the Lani people. Video: Tiktok

The following lines are translations of what she wrote on the video below:

I cannot hold this song anymore.

I am a migrant, my hair is straight,

my skin is white, but in Tolikara,

after I return home from office,

food is already prepared on the table.

Who cooks this?” she asks. Then she replied “Mama gunung dorang…” meaning the “mothers from the mountains”.

Julitha Mathelda Wacano
The emotional video depicts the experience of a young Indonesian migrant girl being cared for by people deemed “enemies” by the state in some of the most demonised and militarised areas in Indonesia, due to constant negative representation in media coverage.

She opened a window to the world of Papuan mothers, for others to see the kindness of Papuans in the face of a society segregated by racism and caste.

The video of Julitha singing in the local Lani language has received more than 1500 comments, many of which share their own experiences of the goodness of the Papuan people. Many praise the love and kindness of Papuans, while others praised God and Allah for her story.

Papuan mothers still face so many challenges
Despite their unwavering love for others, Papuan mothers struggle to compete with the might of migrant economic dominance and their modern entrepreneurial skills.

In the eyes of Indonesians, Papuans do not produce anything of value to be traded or sold on either the national, regional, or global market.

Most Papuans produce fresh food, which has its own value and merit for those seeking a healthy lifestyle.

Papuan mothers spend their days sitting in the rain, in the dirt, alongside busy dusty roads. Meanwhile, migrants sell their imported products and gadgets in high-rise buildings, malls, kiosks, and shops, with comfort and convenience.

At sunset and sometimes into the night, if the mothers don’t sell their produce, they have no place to store it — no cool room or freezer– so they either give it away or take it home to be eaten. They have to start it all over again the next morning.

Many of these mothers are torn between taking care of their children, attending constant funeral services for family members, and finding money to send their children to school to participate in the education system that fails them and demonises their identity at every turn.

All roads lead to Rome – West Papua economics
A total of Rp 126.99 trillion (more than US$20 billion) has been distributed to the provinces of Papua and West Papua since Jakarta passed the so-called Special Autonomy Law in 2021. The details of how this figure was distributed throughout the period 2002-2020 are summarized here by Muhammad Idris and Muhammad Idris on compass.com.

Fiscal figure of this type, or any reports provided by those who seek to promote the state’s interests, can be difficult to verify independently, owing to the nature of the mechanism in place by Jakarta to carry out its settler colonial activities on Papuan Indigenous lands. Nevertheless, this type of report gives us some rough insight into what goes on in the region.

Despite such an amount, the poverty rate in these two provinces is nearly three times higher than the national average. Infant, child, and maternal mortality rates are among the highest, and health services and literacy rates are among the lowest in Indonesia.

There is an “all roads lead to Rome” economic system operating in West Papua, to which no matter how much money Jakarta gives to Papuans, it will all end up back in Jakarta, with migrants, security forces, foreign companies, misfits and opportunists.

Unfortunately, Papuan mothers’ hard-earned money ends up in the same hands that control and maintain this brutal settler colonial system.

As part of the efforts to empower Papuan mothers, President Jokowi in 2018 toured the five-story building which he ordered to be constructed two years earlier in Jayapura, the capital city.

As it was dedicated to Papuan mothers, it was named “Pasar mama-mama Papua” (Market for Papuan mothers).

The building can accommodate up to 300 traders. Each floor has been allocated for “mama mama Papua” to sell their produce and to display cultural artifacts. The building also houses a school for Papuan children to learn.

Papuan mothers have unimaginable willpower and determination to compete with Indonesian settlers, who have almost total control of the economic system in West Papua.

Their lives and work are shaped by the realities of constant violence and inequality in one of the most heavily militarised regions in the world.

No matter what the odds are, Papuan mothers overcome them with grace and compassion.

This sacred power broke the heart of that young Indonesian woman living in the highlands of the Lani people.

Papuan mothers and their international students
Unfortunately, the majority of Papuan international students whose scholarship funds were threatened to be cut by President Jokowi’s administration are the sons or daughters of these mama-mama Papua.

The students who are now spread across different continents and countries, from North America, Russia, Asia, Europe and Oceania, have united under the name International Alliance of Papuan Student Associations Overseas (IAPSAO) and strongly condemn any slight alteration in the scholarship package that would have a crippling effect on their education.

These students overcome so many obstacles, from connecting to the right people within the brutal system, to leaving home, learning new languages, and adjusting to a new cultural system.

The constant loss of their family members back home takes a heavy toll on their studies.

Ali Mirin is one such student who is pursuing a master’s degree in International Relations at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

Mirin came from the Kimyal tribe of Yahukimo region of West Papua. He came to Australia on a student visa in 2019 to study at Monash University in Melbourne but struggled to meet the English requirements.

The university placed him in an English language course before enrolling him in a master’s programme. In the end, he was trapped between international student agencies such as International Development Programme (IDP), university and immigration departments since his two-year required study visa had almost run out, though he had yet to complete his master’s degree.

It was not clear to them why he was not in a master’s programme, but he was struggling to make sense of all the information he was receiving from these various parties.

The combination of covid-19 lockdown, passing of family members in West Papua, frustration with adjusting into a new culture, along with inconsistency in scholarship funds nearly cost everything that his mother worked for to help him achieve this level of education.

Additionally, he had to find a part-time job in Melbourne just to survive and pay rent, which nearly led to his study visa being revoked.

Mirin’s case is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the challenges faced by Papuan students studying overseas. Almost all Papuan students have dramatic and traumatic stories to share about the obstacles they faced just to receive a scholarship, let alone the difficulties of studying abroad.

Studying in first world industrialised countries like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Germany requires tremendous amounts of money, which the parents of these students will likely never be able to afford in their lifetime.

Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe implemented a policy in 2012 that allows these students to study abroad, based on his own educational struggles in West Papua, Indonesia, and Australia.

The governor knows and understands what it is like to be Papuan (especially from the highlands) and study in Indonesia, let alone overseas.

With all these tragic circumstances Papuans have endured for decades, when the Jakarta government withdraws scholarship funds or changes its policies, Papuan students are shattered.

Papuan mothers, who Jokowi calls “mama-mama”, are the ones most affected by the news of deported or failed Papuan students who are studying abroad.

A new policy needs new minds and hearts in Jakarta
The central government in Jakarta should listen to what students have to say as they clearly stated in Asia Pacific Report on January 27.

Indigenous Papuan representatives should oversee Indonesian and foreign agents and agencies that deal with students’ affairs. Because as long as they are not Papuan, whether Indonesian, American, Australian, or British, it will be difficult for them to fully comprehend the mental trauma and cultural issues that each of the students suffer due to the conditions at home.

Papuan students fail their studies or struggle with them, not because they are unintelligent, but because they are deeply traumatised by the abuse and persecution that their families endure at home.

Most of these result from decades of violence, torture, and denigration of their human value under Indonesia’s settler colonial system in their own homeland.

Whatever the number of expert reports on success and failure stories of education in West Papua, if students’ deepest issues are not being listened to or understood, how can we help them or hope to change things for the better?

The politicisation of these students will continue to cloud Jakarta’s judgment about West Papua as it has for 60 years. Elites in Jakarta forget that these people have no agenda to colonise the island of Java, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Ukraine or build nuclear weapons.

They simply want to live peacefully in their own land and pursue their education.

Jakarta’s policies in West Papua are largely influenced by fear, and worst of all, wrong ideas and misguided judgments. They should be more concerned about a potential global nuclear war between the Western Empire and its allies, and the emerging Chinese-led eastern empire, which poses an existential threat to everyone and everything on this planet.

Indonesians target the wrong people and attack the wrong places — West Papua is not your enemy.

Images of ‘Wonderful Indonesia; and West Papua torture
I wonder if Jakarta searched images of West Papua on Google if they would like what they see. Would they see the truth — the horror, torture, abuse, murder, and exploitation of Papuans at their own hands?

Or would they see their ideals reflected back to them, the current state of terrorism that they manufactured in stolen lands.

These images do not represent the true nature of West Papua and its people, it is Indonesia that is reflected in these images.

Indonesia’s famous national promotional image of “wonderful Indonesia” that has been marketed throughout the world can be best authenticated when it uses the situation in West Papua as a mirror in which to see what Indonesia really is.

This hallmark of Jakarta’s nation-building image of Indonesia, which has been marketed around the world, can be best comprehended when it uses West Papua’s reality as a mirror to show the reality of Indonesia. In any case,

It may represent Bali or Java, but for West Papua it is just an elaborate ploy to deceive people about the terror image they have been projecting in the region.

Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In 2016, I was on a yacht in the Bahamas.

Every morning I woke surrounded by postcard-perfect azure water — so crystal clear you could count the sharks sweeping the seafloor.

From my porthole in the laundry, my 1x2m kingdom, I would watch the rain clouds gather in the afternoon and a breeze toss the palm trees 30 metres from anchor.

It was below-deck before the reality TV series existed — Downton Abbey for the 21st century.

I flew home in March, surprising my family with an early return. It turned out being the help on a luxury yacht was not for me.

When I arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand, however, the surprise was mine. There was no room at the inn.

My family had taken in two West Papuan boys who were enrolled at the local high school.

They were part of a group of students at the start of a six-year scholarship programme funded by the Indonesian government.

I bunked in with my brother, sharing a room for the first time since I was 10 years old.

My new Papuan ‘brothers’
The Papuan boys, my new brothers, had shivered through the Wellington summer. Their English was improving daily, but conversation was still a struggle.

Every day they woke and sprinted to catch the school bus. There they spent the whole day surrounded by fast-talking, monotone English voices. At the end of it, they were exhausted but still chipped in at the dinner table, cracking jokes and bravely consuming the foreign cuisine before them.

Our family grew from six to eight.

My youngest brother relished no longer being the baby and took our exchange students under his wing.

After enormous peer pressure, the boys taught us some choice Indonesian swear words, but our ability in their language didn’t progress much beyond that.

They graduated high school, turned 18, went out clubbing, played for the local football team. They embraced New Zealand life and all our family’s quirks.

After four years, they moved from Wellington and enrolled in tertiary education.

This Christmas, they schooled us all in volleyball.

Embassy letter brings bad news
At about the same time, the Indonesian government sent a letter to the embassy in New Zealand.

In it was a list of Papuan students who had “fallen behind” in their studies. These students, they said, would need to be sent home immediately.

One of our Papuan brothers is on this list, a young man almost at the end of his study.

He has an apprenticeship with a local builder lined up, by all accounts, is excelling in his field, as are the other 38 students listed.

The list of names is the fallout of law changes in Jakarta in 2021 that reallocated money away from the Papuan provincial government to the districts. The scholarship fund for the students has dried up.

These victims of politics, however, have taken a stand.

Despite no longer receiving the money to pay their rent and food, they have told the authorities that they will not return and have demanded dialogue with the Indonesian President, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

The Asia Pacific Report has investigated the human rights issue, but aside from one or two other outlets, by and large, the New Zealand media have ignored it.

Times-Age will be joining the debate.

Mary Argue is a Wairarapa Times-Age journalist where this commentary was first published. It is republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

An umbrella organisation representing Papuan students worldwide has been formed with a renewed commitment to strengthening their efforts to gain “quality education”.

Five country groups affiliated to the International Alliance of Papuan Students Associations Overseas (IAPSAO) met virtually yesterday to make a united stance on Papuan education, affirming their appeal last month for Indonesian President Joko Widodo to hear their concerns.

Opening the meeting, Dessy F. Itaar, president of the Papuan Student Association in Russia (IMAPA Russia), declared that the organisation was committed to achieving quality education for Papuans.

“That’s our main goal. Whatever happens, we will keep fighting until we get our rights,” she said.

The virtual meeting was a continuation of an earlier consultation on January 26 when the students expressed concern over policy changes that they believed would impact on education and Papuan students studying abroad.

Other Papuan student associations affiliated to IAPSAO besides the Russian-based one include the Papuan Students Association in the United States and Canada (IMAPA USA-Canada), the Papuan Students Association in Japan (IMAPA Japan), the Papuan Students Association in Germany (PMP Germany) and the Papuan Students Association in Oceania (PSAO).

Previously, student presidents united under the IAPSAO name were known as the Association of Papuan Students Abroad.

Renaming witnessed
Witnessed during the virtual conference by “hundreds of Papuan students” from countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Germany, Indonesia and the United States, PSAO president Yan Piterson Wenda declared the renaming of the international organisation IAPSAO on behalf of the five presidents who were signatories.

Earlier, Itaar had stressed that although Papuan students were sent overseas to focus on their studies, it was important for the presidents to unite and speak out about the problems faced by fellow students.

“As presidents who represent every organisation that we lead, there is one moral burden that we carry — which is not thinking about ourselves, we must think about all members in each organisation,” she said.

Only Papuans know the struggle of Papuan inner souls, so Papuans should first help each other before other people help Papuans, Itaar said.

“The only people who can wake us up are Papuans.

When “our friends from the USA and New Zealand shared their struggles”, fellow Papuans from Japan, Russia and Germany agreed to support them.

“We Papuan children must get a quality education, whatever it is,” she said.

No political agenda
“Meilani S. Ramandey, president of IMAPA Japan, said the working team demanding the rights of the current and future Papuan generations had no political agenda. It worked only for educational issues.

“As Papuan students, we stick to this principle, it is not affiliated with any kind of political agenda.”

The students want to know the status of their scholarship programme, which is run under the policies of Papua provincial Governor Lukas Enembe.

“This is important so that all of us do not misunderstand,” said Ramandey.

Reporting on a meeting last week between representatives of the Papuan Students Association in Oceania and the Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand, Fientje Maritje Suebu, and the head of the Papua Province Human Resources Development Bureau (HRDB), Aryoko Rumaropen, and his staff, PSAO president Yan Piterson Wenda recalled that the bureau had no power to respond to demands by the students.

“The Head of HRDB appreciates the steps taken by the students. The HRDB is disappointed with the policies taken by the central government, so the Indonesian Embassy must respond to this problem,” Wenda said.

“Then, the HRDB said frankly that they had no money. That’s why now all of my friends can’t buy food and pay for accommodation and other needs.

“In principle, HRDB is with us and will forward our aspirations to the Governor. We are waiting for the embassy to proceed with our demands.”

Embassy responded well
Dimison Kogoya, president of the Papuan Students Association in the United States and Canada, reported that the Indonesian Embassy in USA and Canada had responded well to the students’ letter.

“We have held a meeting and at the time of the meeting, we emphasised that our demands should be forwarded to the President,” said a computer science student at Johnson and Wales University in North Carolina.

President Reza Rumbiak of the Papuan Students Association in Germany said Papuan students who were studying in Germany remained in solidarity with students in the USA and New Zealand.

He said a letter had been received from the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin in response to the request by students for a dialogue with President Widodo – but the reply contained 18 points of rebuttal.

“The pressure on me as student president is very intense. But we in Germany support our brothers and sisters in the USA and New Zealand because our DNA as Papuans is communal,” said Rumbiak.

IAPSAO issued a four-point declaration to:

1. Make the International Alliance of Papuan Student Associations Overseas (IAPSAO) an umbrella organisation for all Papuan student organisations domiciled overseas;
2. Improve and maximise coordination and communication in efforts to protect, prevent, anticipate, and defend the educational rights of Papuan students overseas;
3. Affirm IASAO is an independent and academic forum; and
4. Make decisions in this forum based on mutual consensus.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz