Irian Java

Grim Outlook in Irian Java

In a period of six weeks between mid-February and the last week of March, some 430 villagers from Irian Jaya have crossed the border into Papua New Guinea. They are fleeing from heavy fighting between OPM (Free West Papua) rebels and Indonesian troops in the provincial capital of Jayapura, and in villages up to 20km inland.

The border crossers include men, women and children, and many are suffering from malnutrition, malaria and dysentry.

There is fear on their faces, and pleas for compassion and help from their Melanesian brothers in PNG.

So far 84 male crossers have been prosecuted in the Vanimo District Court and sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment for illegal entry into PNG. But an appeal by the Public Prosecutor’s office has temporarily stayed proceedings.

The newly-established refugee camp at Vanimo, capital of the West Sepik Province, is a pitiful scene as, despite the provision of shelter, food and competent medical care, the plight of the inmates is a dismal one of uncertainty and anxiety.

The PNG Foreign Affairs De partment has resolved that all will be returned to Indonesia except where there is evidence of their safety being in doubt and when the fighting has abated.

The decision to prosecute the border-crossers has provoked a public outcry in Papua New Guinea where feeling runs very heavily against the Indonesian annexation of the former Dutch colony and the treatment being handed down to the local population.

The clashes between the OPM rebels and Indonesian soldiers are the fiercest to date and are sure to be the forerun ner of more frequent opposition to the Indonesian Army pre sence, and the strengthening of organised defiance of Indone sian authority.

The upsurge in OPM activity is not unexpected. The depar ture overseas of the two former factional leaders, Seth Rum korem and Jacob Prai, has paved the way, for the first time, for an amalgamation of OPM forces under the leader ship of the popular, self-styled president of West Papua, Mr James Nyaro. This poses a very real threat to the security of the border area as it was the lack of cohesion in the political and fighting arms of the movement that hitherto denied it a credible

image and thus the possibility of outside support.

There is a strong chance that illegal arms could start flowing to the rebels from sympathisers in other parts of the world, and the political refugees in the Netherlands and other havens

of support for a free and inde pendent state, will be active in seeking physical and financial assistance from any sources.

Relations between Port Moresby and Jakarta have been severely upset by the crisis. Indonesian reaction

strained all semblance of credibility as for over a week after the first mass exodus from Jayapura through the PNG bor der village of Wutung, they refused to acknowledge the crossing or that there was any unrest in Jayapura.

Urgent requests by the PNG Government for information were treated with an arrogance that is fast becoming the In donesian trademark of associa tion with PNG on matters re lated to the ultra-sensitive bor der.

Indonesia finally

acknowledged the existence of two known crossers and when urgent border talks were finally agreed to, confronted the PNG Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Paulias Matane, with a minor district official.

The border activity has been greeted in PNG with outrage and in many areas a certain amount of fear. One par liamentarian, Mr Gai Duwa bane, claimed that his intelli gence sources reported mas sings of Indonesian troops across the border, and an impending invasion of PNG scheduled to co-incide with the imminent eruption of the Rabaul volcanos.

The credibility of Mr Duwa bane’s intelligence sources is most questionable but the atti tude of the Indonesians towards the very genuine concerns of PNG is a major irritant to good relations and, in the minds of many Papua New Guineans gives credence to all the old reports of Indonesian ex pansionism and policies aimed

IAN GLANVILLE, who has had a long and distin guished career in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, now writes for Pacific Islands Monthly on military and other matters. His assessment, here, of the worrying situation in Irian Jaya puts the onus squarely on Indonesia to solve a crisis on both sides of the border.

at the genocide of the Melane sians of Irian Jaya.

The revolution in Jayapura, which included efforts to raise a West Papua flag as a symbol of an avowed continuation of their struggle for freedom, ridicules Indonesian claims that they have the support of the majority of the population and that the development of the border area is proceeding peacefully and successfully.

As in Papua New Guinea, land is the source of life and the reason for being. The displace ment of millions of hectares of land to the so-called trans migration program is a source of despair and will eventually lead to a general uprising.

Taking away the genuine issue of over-crowding in Java, the transmigration and resettle ment program is nothing more than the choking forever of the Melanesian voice in that part of the world. To Papuan New Guineans who have lived for a million life-times on their ances tral lands, the fear of being confronted by an alien society along a common border de vised by white men to separate them from their kinfolk, is a very real and pervasive one.

Only six months ago the existence of an Indonesian constructed road which crossed into Papua New Guinea three times, renewed suspicions about the sincerity of Jakarta’s relations with PNG. The perso nal assurances of President Soeharto to Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Mr Michael Somare, during a re cent visit to the Indonesian capital, seem now to ring with emptiness.

A large OPM base camp has been constructed recently directly across the border from the huge Ok Tedi copper and gold project, and this presages an extension of their operations to the southern part of the borderline. It is likely that their interest will be directed at the mine itself and at its staff. What is a sensitive situation at any time has all the potential of a time bomb in the future.

A greatly increased presence of Indonesian troops at bases in close proximity to the border will have a very destabilising effect on the whole area. The scenarios that could develop from OPM and Indonesian army operations are frighten ing.

On the northern borderline OPM activity recently sent PNG troops scuttling to the border area on operations against re ported OPM bases. The possibility of Indonesian pursuit of rebels across the border (which has occurred in the past), coming into contact with PNGDF soldiers is very sub stantial and could create a potentially explosive situation, taking into account the prob lems of communication, and the natural urges of the soldier ing profession.

There is no question that relations between the two countries have been soured, and what has always been a most difficult situation for PNG has been greatly exacerbated.

Public opinion in PNG has sought assurances from the government that it will assist the Irian Jayans in their struggle for independence and actively pur sue the matter in the forum of the United Nations and else where. Calls have been made for PNG to enter into defence pacts with Australia, New Zea land and the U.S.A. Govern ment and Opposition voices in parliament have asked for in creased support for the PNG

Defence Force and for the establishment of a Reserve and introduction of National Service.

For a government preoccu pied with bringing prosperity to its people, and helping create a stable and democratic society from Papua New Guinea’s di verse cultural and ethnic back ground, the leaders who sit down in Waigani must wonder indeed at the right course to follow in the face of a dilemma that promises little respite and much turbulence in the future.

To avoid disaster, Indonesia must take a new look at the situation in Irian Jaya one that takes into account compas sion for its people, as well as understanding of its geographi cal and ethnic realities.

There is need for understan ding and restraint. Indonesia must seek a genuine dialogue with the OPM and her relation ship with Papua New Guinea must move towards a genuine respect of one independent and sovereign state for another. The two countries must negotiate their bilateral relationship with mutual dignity.

Only thus can stability and peace in the region be assured