Jayapura, 30/12 (Jubi/IC Magazine) – The international community is finally starting to support the People of West Papua; but there needs to be more.
Similar to the protracted struggles in Colombia and Palestine, Indigenous Peoples in West Papua have endured decades of brutal–that is, genocidal–treatment at the hands of the colonial government of Indonesia. According to conservative estimates, no fewer than 100,000 Melanesian Papuans have been killed and 300,000 have been displaced since West Papua was occupied some 47 years ago.
Much of the struggle in West Papua has occurred in cold and calculated isolation with the government denying any foreign journalists or observers into the region to document what has been happening.
That restriction is still in effect, however, with the help of current communications technologies the international community has started to become aware of the continuous rain of attacks that the Papuan People face.
Unfortunately, there are still just a small handful of websites that go above and beyond to keep us informed. No, it’s not Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International! Rather, it’s West Papua Media Alerts, Free West Papua, the West Papua Action Network and various other organizations and networks devoted exclusively to Papua.
With their tireless efforts, worldwide support for the People of West Papua is steadily on the rise. Nevertheless, there is still a great need for media coverage across the board if the greatest hope of the People of West Papua is to ever become a reality: They want freedom.
