Indonesian bombing continues in Puncak, West Papua

Indonesia has launched a number of devastating airstrikes on a handful of villages in Ilaga, Puncak Regency.

These attacks follow last week’s brutal bombing attacks in Puncak, which killed one Papuan civilian and gravely injured another.

Seven villages have been targeted as part of this operation, which is still ongoing. All of their inhabitants have been displaced, forced to flee into the bush and live as refugees in their own ancestral lands. The military have occupied churches in the affected area, in keeping with a longstanding TNI practice which is in breach of humanitarian law. This should be a wakeup call for Pacific leaders – are we not fellow Christians? Do our holy places not deserve protection from this brutality?

The images that have emerged – of terrified West Papuan refugees carrying the Indonesian flag as a symbol of surrender – remind me of my childhood in 1977. My tribe also carried the Indonesian flag to try and keep our women and children safe. Nonetheless, many were imprisoned, raped, and tortured, and many thousands were massacred. The bush became our home for five years. Indonesia used US-made Bronco aircraft to strafe and bomb my village from the air; now, they use even more technologically advanced helicopters and planes, as well as drones assembled in China and Europe. In both cases, the majority of refugees are women and children.

The current military escalation in West Papua has now been building for months. Initially targeting Intan Jaya, the Indonesian military have since broadened their attacks into other highlands Regencies, including Puncak. We do not know where it will end.

I therefore call on all international media and NGOs to pay close attention to this ongoing escalation. Because Indonesia has hidden West Papua from the world for over six decades, the only evidence we have of these operations is shaky video footage from civilian journalists. Indonesia claims to be a democratic country, but has closed West Papua off from the world.

I also repeat the ULMWP’s demands of the Indonesian regime: 1) Allow all journalists, foreign and domestic, media to report freely from West Papua 2) immediately allow the visit to West Papua by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, demanded by over 110 UN member states 3) withdraw your military from West Papua and allow the IDPs to return home.