Ivy Susanti, Jakarta – The Indonesian government urged the group of 43 Papuans seeking asylum in Australia to return home, and pledged that there would be no punishment.
Imron Cotan, the new foreign ministry's secretary-general, reiterated on Tuesday the government also expected Australia to consider its good relations with Indonesia when deciding on the asylum claim, which, if granted, would be tantamount to tacit acknowledgement of the genocide that is claimed in the independence-minded province.
A group of 43 Papuans left the port of Merauke for Australia two weeks ago and arrived last Wednesday at Cape York Peninsula. The Papuans, who arrived aboard an outrigger canoe in an apparent bid for asylum, were later sent for immigration screening to Christmas Island, a remote Indian Ocean island.
They strung up a banner on their boat, accusing Indonesia of "genocide", an allegation that has been widely dismissed by Indonesian government officials.
"The procedure to get asylum status takes a very long time, because applicants must undergo some phases. The applicants can appeal several times when the request fails," explained Imron, a former Indonesian ambassador to Australia.
"We don't want to see them suffering in the detention center on Christmas Island. We hope the Papuans can return to Indonesia, and certainly the government won't take any action that will affect their welfare. After all, they are part of our nation."
He said that eight or nine of the 43 people are related to Thomas Wanggai, a Papuan pro-independence leader who died in detention at Cipinang prison in Jakarta in 1996. Wanggai proclaimed the independence of the West Melanesian people on Dec. 14, 1988 in Jayapura.
His supporters are still fighting for self-determination in Papua, and the activists reportedly receive support from some scholarly and human rights groups based in Australia.
Imron added said that the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra was still probing the Papuans' motives, but he said media reports and an early report from the embassy said that they were looking for asylum.
However, he said that the Australian government was unlikely to support Papua's independence bid as the country had acknowledged in agreements on two occasions – the Indonesia-Australia ministerial forum held in both countries consecutively in 2003 and 2005, that Papua is part of Indonesian territory.
Meanwhile, Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second-largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, urged the government to find out the real motives of the Papuans.
"We have concerns over the fact that there are Indonesian citizens seeking asylum overseas," Din was quoted by Antara as saying on Tuesday. He said that asylum request itself could affect the bilateral relations politically.
Merauke Regent John Gluba Gebze said he could not verify the identity of the 43 Papuans or their departure point. "We are still examining the claims that the Papuans are residents of Merauke. We will also try to find the seaport from which they departed," he told the state news agency on Monday.
Gluba said that the Papuans could leave from any small seaport around Merauke such as Kumbe, Lampu Satu or Besbah, which is located at the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border.