Irian Jaya
p. 85 · Read in the full issue
Congratulations to you and your contributor for the long overdue critical review of developments in Irian Jaya (PIM, Jan, p 25).
I can assure your contributor that there is a growing number of people in Papua New Guinea, both nationals and foreigners like myself, who share the concern and many of the views expressed in the article. There is no doubt in my mind that the colonial policies which Indonesia is practis ing in Irian Jaya rate among the most harsh which the Pacific Islands region has witnessed.
May I also add that, although PlM’s main interest lies with the central Pacific Islands, there seems to me to be some need for PIM to give attention to the Pacific Islands periphery. I would include here not only Irian Jaya, but those other colonial outposts such as Easter Is, Galapagos Is, the Bonin Is and some in the north-west Pacific. Similarly the role of Pacific- Islanders in New Zealand and Australia deserves scru tiny—and some, I know, has been given.