New Zealander Phillip Mehrtens was released after spending 19 months in captivity after being kidnapped by rebels in Indonesia’s West Papua region.
West Papua was colonised by The Netherlands in 1898.
Teanau Tuiono is a list MP for the Green Party.
OPINION
In this time of heightened geopolitical tensions, it’s easy to get fixated on the high-profile conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, and the difficulties in solving them. Sometimes we forget about the lesser-known conflicts closer to home, and also the steps we could take now to move the dial towards peace.
The conflicts and struggles in our Pacific neighbourhood, in Kanaky New Caledonia and West Papua, seem to have largely been ignored by our country. In particular, the conflict in West Papua, between the Indigenous Papuan independence movement and Indonesian security forces, remains unresolved after several decades and in recent years has escalated to a highly flammable situation.
This conflict got some media attention in the past year or so due to the move by West Papuan pro-independence guerilla forces to kidnap a New Zealand pilot who was flying into the Papuan highlands for a small Indonesian airline. Phillip Mehrtens was recently released alive after more than a year and a half in captivity, during which time difficult back-channel negotiations played out.
It was a huge relief when Mehrtens was reunited with his family. But it didn’t mean the conflict in West Papua simply slipped away into the night. Far from it. Many Papuans feel a sense of dread that Subianto Prabowo, a former military general accused of war crimes in West Papua and East Timor, was recently inaugurated as Indonesia’s new President.
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Prabowo’s accession to power, and signs he will take a hardline approach to restive provinces, compound the sense the West Papua conflict is tracking badly. Deadly exchanges continue between the West Papua Liberation Army and the Indonesian military forces in the Papuan interior, peaceful activists continue to face the threat of incarceration for treason by the Indonesian justice system, and journalists continue to be attacked for covering the struggle.
This should give us pause for thought. If we criticise Russia and Israel for imprisonment and harassment of activists and journalists, shouldn’t we be consistent and call out what’s happening in Indonesia, too?
Along with other countries in the Pacific Islands Forum, New Zealand resolved to push Jakarta to allow the UN Human Rights Commissioner entry to Papua to monitor the situation. Five years on, nothing has happened.
I think there are things we should be doing to help, starting with being more outspoken about the conflict in West Papua, and pushing for Jakarta to address human rights abuses there. This could be done with far more conviction from a Forum perspective, too. I believe we also need to encourage Indonesia to open up West Papua for access to international journalists and humanitarian agencies.
Furthermore, we should develop more links to Papua in trade and cultural spheres. Let’s help West Papuans participate more in the Pacific regional family they naturally identify with.
Our country has great influence in the Pacific region, but we should not take that for granted. In my opinion, the seeming indifference this Government is showing to the climate change crisis is not going unnoticed in Pacific Island countries. I think Aotearoa New Zealand risks losing standing among the Pacific whanau if we fail to take action on the issues important to the region.
As the needle of geopolitical forces shifts around fitfully in favour of autocrats and demagogues, we must return to the independent approach to foreign affairs that served us well in the past. Let’s remain an advocate for diplomacy and dialogue, and pursue our independent voice in world affairs. That’s what other countries look to us for.
