Indonesia-Papua Impasse Risks Political Radicalisation

Jakarta, Indonesia (News Today) - Indonesia must urgently address political discontent and migration in Papua, its resource-rich, easternmost region, to avoid fuelling a simmering separatist movement, an international think tank said on Tuesday.

In a new report entitled “Indonesia: The Deepening Impasse in Papua”, the Brussels- based conflict analysts International Crisis Group urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to open a dialogue with Papuan leaders about expanding political autonomy, strengthening affirmative action, and addressing fears over the influx of immigrants.

“Unless these three issues are tackled head on in face-to-face meetings, the impasse is unlikely to be broken and increased radicalisation is likely,” the report said. A separatist movement has rumbled for decades in Papua, which has limited rights to self-rule under special autonomy laws implemented in 2001, and which has the enormous Grasberg mine operated by a unit of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

A steady inflow of non-indigenous migrants into Papua, many of whom are of different religions, has heightened fears among many Papuans that their cultural identity is under threat. However, attempts by local leaders to exercise political power and institute affirmative action policies have been rebuffed by Jakarta, the ICG said in its report.

Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman for the Indonesian foreign ministry, said Yudhoyono had recently ordered an audit of the implementation of special autonomy, following complaints.

“In fact, what we see is that there is a lingering problem of dysfunctional government in Papua. This certainly poses a serious challenge because we have already transferred a large amount of authority to the region,” he said.

Affirmative action

The report said a recent escalation in the number of protests in Papua can be traced back to a November 2009 decision by the Papuan People’s Council (MRP) — which is supposed to help preserve Papuan cultural values — that only indigenous Papuans could hold elected positions of regent, deputy regent, mayor or deputy mayor in district councils.

“The decision stemmed from fears that Melanesian Papuans were being rapidly swamped by non-Papuan Indonesians who in some towns already were a majority. As one Papuan put it, ’Every day planes come in, vomiting migrants’,” the ICG report said.

The decision was overturned by Jakarta on the grounds that the MRP had no authority to make decisions and that the ruling was discriminatory, despite the fact that other provinces are allowed to apply laws that could be seen as discriminatory, such as the sharia law system used in Aceh.

“As Papuans point out, if national law trumps local law every time, it raises the question of how much devolution the central government is really willing to countenance,” the report said.

“Activists began thinking how anger over the decision’s fate might be transformed into an instrument for mobilising disparate Papuan voices into a broader, unified critique of special autonomy — and by extension, support for independence.”

Source : kompas

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