Kidnapped pilot Philip Mertens recalls war in West Papua

While international attention has been focused on the pilot, another ‘kidnapping’ last month went largely unreported. West Papua governor Lucas Enembe arrested.

Kidnapping is never allowed, but context matters. In a region completely cut off from international media and scrutiny, West Papuans have few means to publicize their struggle. This is another desperate cry for international intervention as the United Nations and regional powers have failed them. . formally handed over From West Papua to Indonesia.

More than 50 years later, even if the Indonesian military impunity in West Papua.why we build closer defense ties Indonesia, which remains strong, and army and safety Attack Russian ties, regional interests and undermine the Pacific “step up”?

Locals believe Indonesia is most likely behind Large-scale cyber attack on Vanuatu Recently, the entire government intranet went down, paralyzing my ability to function online for six weeks. This is the most serious cyberattack against a Pacific nation so far and feels like an ‘Estonian moment’. That Baltic country It became the first country to suffer a sustained cyber attack by Russia.

For decades, Jakarta, Washington and Canberra have been complicit in the greatest injustices to be seen in our immediate vicinity. It allows Indonesia to continue its brutal occupation of West Papua unhindered and to profit from its considerable resources. Freeport operated The world’s largest gold mine there.

After all, American corporate interests in West Papua beat legitimate Australian and Pacific security interests when building a regional Pacific alliance to counter China (and Russia) is the main game. It should not be allowed to be defeated. Indonesia does not appear to have received the memo and does not realize how much criticism Australia has received in Melanesia for appeasing Indonesia’s aggression. Countries welcome China’s involvement while seeking to minimize Indonesia’s influence.

As Australia pushes its faith in climate change, the most important ecosides happening in our region are: Destruction of the rainforests of West Papua by a palm oil conglomerate. This is happening in his second largest wilderness in the world after the Amazon Basin.

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Just across the ocean from us, four million West Papuans remain hostages of war, greed and cowardly diplomacy. No good-looking person will emerge from this long-running tragedy. Not Indonesia, not the United Nations, not America, not Australia, not the Paralyzed Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Should represent the interests of Melanesia.

west papua “Ukraine in the Pacific”It is therefore ironic that Australia is helping faraway Ukraine, but not our equally justified and ultimately more important neighbor to us.

In West Papua we remain on the wrong side of history and humanity.

Ben Bohane is a Vanuatu-based photojournalist and producer who has covered the Pacific since 1994. He is the co-founder of the Australian War Photography Collective. Donan.

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