The Political Status of West Papua (Part 5)

Thus, no one can draw artificial distinctions between the Papua and Malay peoples. Mixed groups have developed in many parts of the Moluccas in the course of history. It can not be determined therefore that the West Papuans are an exclusive ethnic group. There were and continues to be Indonesians coming from other islands to live in West Papua. The people of West Papua also live in other islands such as the Moluccas, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda and in Java. Hence, close relationship have been established over the years between this region and other parts of Indonesia.

The importance of West Papua to Indonesia must be self-evident. In covering 413.000 square kilometers, West Papua is an area constituting 22 per cent of the entire Indonesian territory with a population of about 4 million and although under-developed was thoroughly neglected by the colonial authorities. It is also significant in the political and national spheres. As part of the Netherlands East Indies, West Papua and its people played an important role in the Indonesian struggle for freedom and independence. Hence, the Indonesian Proclamation of Independence of 17 August 1945 was of profound significance for West Papuan people who considered themselves as Indonesians. Following this Declaration by their  national leaders, the people of West Papua, together with the rest of the Indonesian population resisted attempts to re-impose colonial rule.

In 1946, largely on the initiative of Mr. Silas Papare, who was decorated by the Allies for his prominent role in the resistance movement during the Japanese occupation of West Papua and later became a member of the Indonesian Parliament, the largest and most active political group emerged called Partai Kemerdekaan Indonesia Papua. This Organization played a particularly significant role in the independence of the entire Indonesian nation by struggling for the noble cause of exercise of self-determination of its people. Their acts rapidly won support and praise of the entire Indonesian population.

At that time in West Papua, the situation was described by the Netherlands Parliamentary mission that visited the area to be generally poor. In this regard, the report released in 1954 depicted social conditions of laborers as "very bad", wage scales as discriminatory on a racial basis and educational program as unsuitable. 122 years of Dutch colonial rule had cemented even closer ties between the people of West Papua and their Indonesian brethren in the rest of the country.

Continue to part 6