Indonesia Bombs the Indigenous Papuans in West Papua (Global Indifference)
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
America, Australia, China, France, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the international community in general are not only indifferent to the mass oppression of the indigenous West Papuans at the hands of Indonesia – but these nations seek military sales to Indonesia and to exploit the natural resources of West Papua similar to Indonesia.
Indonesia oppresses the indigenous people of West Papua directly. Meanwhile, leading nations support this reality by stealth.
Recent airstrikes by Indonesia hit several Papuan villages in the Puncak Regency. This led to indigenous Papuans fleeing these villages – fearing the events of today, while remembering past atrocities.
Benny Wenda (Interim President of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua – ULMWP) said, “Indonesia has launched a number of devastating airstrikes on a handful of villages in Ilaga, Puncak Regency.”
Initial attacks by the armed forces of Indonesia focused on Intan Jaya. However, other parts of the highlands are now being targeted.
AP News reports, “Indonesia’s security forces have clashed with separatist rebels in the restive Papua region, leaving at least 18 insurgents and two police officers dead, officials and the rebels said Friday.”
The Guardian reports, “West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea, home to the world’s third-largest rainforest. It is rich in natural resources, including the world’s largest gold and copper mine as well as extensive reserves of natural gas, minerals and timber.”
The Guardian continues, “West Papuans say more than 500,000 of their people have been killed by the occupation in the past six decades, while millions of acres of their ancestral lands have been destroyed for corporate profit.”
Benda says, “For years, West Papuans have been telling the world that we are the victims of two connected crimes: genocide and ecocide. Over 500,000 Papuans have been killed since the Indonesian occupation began in the 1960s, while millions of acres of ancestral land – forests, rivers, and mountains – have been destroyed and poisoned for Indonesian and corporate profit.”
The indigenous Papuans are overwhelmingly Christian and ethnically different from the Javanese – who dominate mainly Muslim Indonesia. However, for decades, leading nations have tolerated the massacres of Papuans, Javanese colonialism, the exploitation of Papuan resources, and other brutal deeds that are taking place in West Papua.
Benda said, “Indonesia doesn’t want the West Papuan people — they only want our resources.”
The indigenous of West Papua need to break free from the colonial chains of Indonesia.
Paradise Bombed – Video documenting the hidden West Papua (Important video to watch about West Papua)
https://www.ipwp.org The International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/20/west-papua-indonesia-palm-oil-deforestation-rainforest
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http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi and her website – Modern Tokyo Times artist
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