The truth about West Papua
For all newcomers to the struggle, and the West Papuan issue, here is some background to the geopolitics of West Papua.
West Papua is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea, in the Pacific Ocean, bordering the independent nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG). It lies just 200km north of Australia.
West Papua was promised independence from the Dutch and always administered as "Dutch New Guinea" separate from Indonesia.
The Dutch promised that West Papua would have independence on 1st December 1970 and on 1st December 1961, the West Papuan national flag wa raised.
West Papua was just 18 months later, invaded by Indonesia, a country with no cultural or historical ties to West Papua at all.
All West Papuans are still struggling for their independence today.
The invasion was totally illegal under international law but was mandated by a US government to get profits from the world's largest gold mine in West Papua and to try to appease an Indonesian government threatening to turn communist.
All Australian governments then and since have turned a blind eye to this violation of international law for better trade deals with Indonesia.
The West Papuan people were never consulted and since day one, the Indonesian military has been committing a systematic genocide of the indigenous West Papuan people in order to gain full access to West Papua's vast resources without resistance.
Over 500,000 innocent West Papuan men, women and children (Over 1 in 4 people) have already been milled by the Indonesian military with the death toll rising every week.
In 1963, West Papua and Papua New Guinea both had populations of about 1.5 million indigenous people.
The indigenous population of PNG is now over 7 million but West Papua's has only reached 2 million and the people have become a minority in their own land, with Indonesia pushing millions of Indonesian "transmigrants" in an effort to ethnically and culturally wipe out the Papuan people.
As soon as Indonesia invaded, they promptly renamed the country "Irian Jaya" an Indonesian name which is incredibly offensive to West Papuans as Jaya means "victorious" and Irian means "hot land" but is also known commonly for it's acronym "Ikut Republic Indonesia Anti Nederland" which translated into English is "Join with Indonesia, anti Dutch".
This was another clear attempt to "Indonesianize" West Papua though even Indonesia was forced to rename it back to Papua in 2002 after increasing pressure.
All foreign journalists, human rights groups and NGOs are banned from entering West Papua. All tourists are severely restricted and forced to report to Indonesian police posts constantly.
But the people of West Papua struggle on, now all around the world their cries for freedom and independence are beginning to be heard.
With enough pressure on foreign governments, we will make sure the United Nations forces Indonesia to hold a free and fair independence referendum for all West Papuans, as promised to them under international law to this day.
YOU can help to stop this 21st century genocide, support the Free West Papua Campaign.
Visit www.freewestpapua.org for more information.
With your support, West Papua will finally be free.
For all newcomers to the struggle, and the West Papuan issue, here is some background to the geopolitics of West Papua.
West Papua is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea, in the Pacific Ocean, bordering the independent nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG). It lies just 200km north of Australia.
West Papua was promised independence from the Dutch and always administered as "Dutch New Guinea" separate from Indonesia.
The Dutch promised that West Papua would have independence on 1st December 1970 and on 1st December 1961, the West Papuan national flag wa raised.
West Papua was just 18 months later, invaded by Indonesia, a country with no cultural or historical ties to West Papua at all.
All West Papuans are still struggling for their independence today.
The invasion was totally illegal under international law but was mandated by a US government to get profits from the world's largest gold mine in West Papua and to try to appease an Indonesian government threatening to turn communist.
All Australian governments then and since have turned a blind eye to this violation of international law for better trade deals with Indonesia.
The West Papuan people were never consulted and since day one, the Indonesian military has been committing a systematic genocide of the indigenous West Papuan people in order to gain full access to West Papua's vast resources without resistance.
Over 500,000 innocent West Papuan men, women and children (Over 1 in 4 people) have already been milled by the Indonesian military with the death toll rising every week.
In 1963, West Papua and Papua New Guinea both had populations of about 1.5 million indigenous people.
The indigenous population of PNG is now over 7 million but West Papua's has only reached 2 million and the people have become a minority in their own land, with Indonesia pushing millions of Indonesian "transmigrants" in an effort to ethnically and culturally wipe out the Papuan people.
As soon as Indonesia invaded, they promptly renamed the country "Irian Jaya" an Indonesian name which is incredibly offensive to West Papuans as Jaya means "victorious" and Irian means "hot land" but is also known commonly for it's acronym "Ikut Republic Indonesia Anti Nederland" which translated into English is "Join with Indonesia, anti Dutch".
This was another clear attempt to "Indonesianize" West Papua though even Indonesia was forced to rename it back to Papua in 2002 after increasing pressure.
All foreign journalists, human rights groups and NGOs are banned from entering West Papua. All tourists are severely restricted and forced to report to Indonesian police posts constantly.
But the people of West Papua struggle on, now all around the world their cries for freedom and independence are beginning to be heard.
With enough pressure on foreign governments, we will make sure the United Nations forces Indonesia to hold a free and fair independence referendum for all West Papuans, as promised to them under international law to this day.
YOU can help to stop this 21st century genocide, support the Free West Papua Campaign.
Visit www.freewestpapua.org for more information.
With your support, West Papua will finally be free.
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