Neles Tebay, Jayapura – Indigenous Papuans are supposed to be enjoying a peaceful life in Papua province. However, their experiences under Indonesian rule create a different impression.
At times they are forced to live as strangers or foreigners, even in their own ancestral land.
The latest example of this is that thousands of indigenous Papuans have been seeking refuge since Jan. 6 in Puncak Jaya regency, from an open war between the Indonesian Military and police troops and members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) rebel group under Goliath Tabuni.
The Association of Papua Churches (PGGP), after having conducted a visit to Puncak Jaya, announced that some 2,000 Papuans had already taken refuge in other villages and some 5,000 were facing hunger. They were living in desperate conditions (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 30).
They were forced to leave their ancestral land, villages, food gardens, domesticated pigs, and church buildings, and to live as strangers in another place.
They have been facing shortages of food and living in fear and anxiety. Children have suffered from diarrhea, hepatitis and malaria, which are the most common illnesses. Four refugees have already died, namely Tanno Talenggen, 50; Laya Morib, 30; Mitiles Morib, 20; and Walia Wonda, 41.
As expected, the local government in Puncak Jaya regency and the Trikora Military Command – which oversees Papua and West Irian Jaya – through its spokesman Lt. Col. Imam Santoso, in Jayapura, denied the church report. The PGGP, according to the military's spokesman, gave "false information" (The Jakarta Post, Feb. 2).
Whether the Papuans fleeing a crackdown on separatists should be classified as refugees is debatable. Yet, the truth is thousands of people have involuntarily left their ancestral land. Their emotional ties with their ancestral land have been cut off.
From a cultural perspective, the broken emotional ties pose a serious danger to Melanesians, including the Papuan people. A Melanesian never enjoys a peaceful life on a land belonging to other people. A sense of security is always found in their ancestral land.
Thousands of Papuans are seeking refuge due to fear. What are they afraid of? According to the local government and the military, the Papuans took refuge in order to avoid the attack launched not by the Indonesian security forces but by the OPM members.
According to the churches, people were seeking refuge because they were afraid of being attacked both by the Indonesian security forces and the OPM.
While acknowledging the real reason must be done through a credible investigation conducted by an independent inquiry team, past experiences might be helpful in understanding why the people are seeking refuge.
We can take Papuans' experience of being refugees in 2004 as an example. Due to the military operation conducted by the Indonesian security forces against the OPM, as reported by the church leaders, some 5,000 Papuans from 27 villages in Puncak Jaya regency fled the troops.
These displaced Papuans used to be afraid of entering their village or the capital of the regency, for any Papuan who came out of the forest was suspected and accused of being a separatist by the Indonesian security forces.
During the military operation the whole region was reportedly closed off. Humanitarian workers were not allowed to visit the region, and therefore the suffering people could not be assisted.
That is why the leaders of the churches in Papua called upon the government and the military "to open the region to humanitarian workers."
Thus thousands of Papuans might be seeking refuge because they are afraid of being suspected of being members of the OPM by the Indonesian security forces, as acknowledged by the head of Yamo district (Cenderawasih Pos, Feb. 2).
As long as the root cause of Papuan separatism is not tackled these Papuans might continue to be suspected of being supporters or collaborators of the Papuan separatist group led by Goliat Tabuni.
The deployment of more troops and the establishment of more military and police stations does not necessarily bring about lasting stability.
The central and provincial governments are facing the challenge of providing human security for the Papuans, without which they cannot work for themselves, participate in the development of their villages or improve their future prospects.
The government and representatives of the Papuan people can together work out the content of the conflict-prevention policy through a peaceful dialog facilitated by a neutral third party.
Whether this dialog happens depends very much on the Jakarta-based government.
Jakarta's unwillingness to engage in a dialog with the Papuans could be perceived by the Papuans as the government ignoring the suffering of indigenous Papuans.
[The writer is a professor at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology in Abepura, Papua.]