While the world looks away, genocide continues in West Papua.
Indonesian security forces have committed a series of new mass killings over the past ten days, executing at least ten Papuans and shooting many more.
According to on-the-ground reports from the TPNPB and humanitarian defenders, the Indonesian military conducted a sweeping operation in a gold panning area in Tembagapura, Timika Regency, spanning from the evening of May 7th to the morning of May 8th. Five civilian gold miners were shot dead during the operations, while a toddler was reportedly injured and is in critical condition. One of the victims, 17-year-old Nalince Wamang, was hoping to raise money to fund her university studies.
At the same time, military operations conducted in Omukia District, Puncak Regency between May 1st and May 6th resulted in the deaths of at least four Papuan civilians – all murdered by Indonesian troops. According to Human Rights Monitor, the victims were as follows:
- Ms Tarling Wanimbo, 20, shot whilst searching for food in her family’s garden.
- Mrs Naena Murib, 31, shot dead whilst gardening.
- Mr Bebison Murib, 19, shot dead during the operations
- Mr Amukiamen Magay, 41, shot dead during the operations.
Earlier, on May 5th, the military shot seven West Papuan students, ranging in age from 17 to 24, during a graduation parade in Kobakma, Mamberamo Tengah Regency. One, 18-year-old Yali Elabi, remains in hospital in critical condition. The only “crime” these students had committed was painting the Morning Star on their clothes. Indonesia fears our flag so much they will shoot our children for flying it.
Indonesia’s ten days of bloodshed then continued yesterday (May 10th), as the police executed yet another Papuan civilian in Dogiyai, Mr Nopison Tebai.
Massacres have become normal in West Papua. The latest killings by the Indonesian colonial occupiers occurred in the wake of recent massacres in Dogiyai and Kembru, Puncak Regency. Thirty-seven West Papuans have now been killed by Indonesian security forces in 2026 – evidence of a serious escalation in Indonesian militarisation. We must also remember that this figure doesn’t include the many civilians who will die of hunger or disease in the bush after being forcibly displaced by military operations.
Tembagapura is in the dead zone surrounding the Freeport mine, the biggest and most toxic gold mine on earth. The forests there have been destroyed, the water is poisoned, the fish are all dead, and the basin of the Ajkwa river has been transformed into a huge grey wasteland. As a result, West Papuans who once hunted there have been forced to pan for gold just to survive.
Those who were killed in Tembagapura suffered three times – first they lost their lands, then their livelihoods, and finally their lives.
This new wave of brutality is a result of Indonesia’s increased military deployment in West Papua. At least 110 new battalions have been formed in West Papua since the election of Prabowo Subianto as Indonesian President in 2024, bringing tens of thousands of additional soldiers to the highlands and villages.
These troops are not in West Papua to protect civilians or preserve Indonesia’s ‘sovereignty’. They are there to protect Indonesia’s investments: to defend the Wabu Block, the Freeport Mine, and the South Papua National Strategic Project (PSN), the biggest deforestation project in human history. The government deliberately creates violence and chaos to feed their troops and the industrial projects they serve.
On behalf of the ULMWP and the Pacific people of West Papua, I demand the immediate expulsion of Indonesia from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Indonesia currently sits as a dialogue partner in PIF and an Associate Member of the MSG. If their positions are not reviewed following these massacres, the Pacific will be complicit in the genocide of its West Papuan neighbours.
Pacific leaders must ask themselves: will you allow this to happen in your backyard? Will you close your eyes as West Papuans are slaughtered? Future generations will judge your actions at this critical moment.
