Abstract
The Republic of Indonesia has administered West Papua since 1963, following a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) agreement of 1962. Six years later, the Indonesian government held the controversial “Act of Free Choice” that led to the territory’s official integration into the Republic of Indonesia. While West Papuan nationalists argue that the “Act of Free Choice” was a fraudulent process undertaken with the tacit agreement of the international community that denied them the right to self-determination, successive Indonesian governments have considered the Act binding and legal and rejected any possibility of West Papuan self-determination. The chapter begins with an overview of West Papua’s integration into the Dutch East Indies and early Dutch policy in relation to the territory. This is followed by a discussion on the conflict between Indonesia and the Netherlands over the future and status of West Papua. The chapter then turns to West Papua’s integration into the Republic of Indonesia, which represents the first major incompatibility in the conflict. The remaining parts of the chapter focus on the post integration period and examines how successive Indonesian governments have attempted to manage the conflict, and various West Papuan initiatives, up to the present day.
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Notes
- 1.
In this article I use the term West Papua to refer to the territory formerly known as Dutch New Guinea from about 1828 until it became an Indonesian province and the central government imposed the name Irian Jaya. In 2002, the name of the province was changed to Papua, and the following year, the territory divided into two separate provinces with the name Papua and West Papua. West Papuans is used to refer to the indigenous people of the territory.
- 2.
On this movement, see Kamma (1972).
- 3.
Some nationalists attempted to use the rather tenuous argument that West Papua had been part of earlier empires that had existed in Island Southeast Asia, such as the Srivijaya and Majapahit Kingdoms, which they fancifully and romantically tried to argue that were precursors to modern Indonesia (Kahin 1950: 35).
- 4.
These Dutch businesses were among the most profitable in Indonesia and provided the military with substantial financial resources. Some, however, quickly fell into difficulties because of mismanagement and excessive corruption (Crouch 1978: 39).
- 5.
By 1962, Indonesia was receiving more Russian military aid than any other non-communist country (Leifer 1983: 63).
- 6.
In 2010, Jim Elmslie estimated that as a consequence of transmigration indigenous West Papuans were now a minority who made up just 48.73% of the territory’s total population and by 2020 this number would drop to about 29% if transmigration continued (Elmslie 2010). However, Elmslie’s figures have been disputed and more recent studies carried out by Indonesian academics suggest that West Papuans still form a majority in the territory, making up some 70% of the population (Ananta et al. 2016).
- 7.
Freeport is also believed to have paid some $20.3 million directly to Suharto for a contract in 1991 and an annual tribute between $5 and $7 million (Leith 2002: 90).
- 8.
Reports indicate that about a hundred other West Papuans from the Biak protest were forced into boats and their bodies dumped at sea, with their mutilated bodies washing up some days later (see ABC 2008).
- 9.
It appears that security forces reluctantly agreed to allow the protest to take place for one day only. The following day in Timika, security forces forcibly dispersed a demonstration centred on a flag in a churchyard, with 16 people reported to have received gunshot wounds (Human Rights Watch 2000).
- 10.
See King (2004) for a detailed outline of the draft.
- 11.
Note that during this period Megawati allowed the military a free hand in Aceh.
- 12.
See Human Rights Watch (2007).
- 13.
See IPAC (2013) for a detailed outline of the draft OTSUS Plus proposal.
- 14.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, State Address of the President of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government Statement on the Bill on the State Budget for the 2006 Fiscal Year and its Financial Note before the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives on 16 August 2005.
- 15.
According to a 2009 Tapol report, there were some 12,400 Indonesian troop in stationed in West Papua (Tapol 2009).
- 16.
It should also be noted that some West Papuan nationalists advocated a boycott of the election arguing that voting in the presidential election effectively legitimized Indonesian rule. While most believed that the election of Jokowi’s rival, Prabowo, would have negative connotations for Papua, there was also doubt that Jokowi would have the power to change the status quo (see Whyte 2014).
- 17.
Initially this policy appears to have been contested by Marwan Jafar, the minister responsible for transmigration (Kompas 2015b), but transmigration does appear to have ended.
- 18.
Author’s translation.
- 19.
A report by SETARA (2017) commenting on 2016 noted that human rights abuses continue and have yet to be seriously addressed and a team established to resolve human rights violations in Papua in 2016 is not yet a reality.
- 20.
Further information can be found on their website: https://www.ipwp.org/background/.
- 21.
In particular, see Free West Papua Campaign (2016).
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Druce, S.C. (2020). Political Impasse vs Economic Development: A History and Analysis of the West Papua Conflict in Indonesia. In: Oishi, M. (eds) Managing Conflicts in a Globalizing ASEAN. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9570-4_5
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