Two of the 43 Papuan asylum seekers at the heart of a diplomatic rift between Australia and Indonesia two years ago have returned to their homeland.
The Indonesian government said Hana Gobay, from Merauke in Papua, and Yubel Kareni, from Serui, returned to Papua on Wednesday morning, accompanied by Indonesia's consul general in Melbourne, Jahar Gultom.
The two Papuans contacted Indonesian officials in Melbourne and Canberra in mid-July wanting to return to Papua, Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Department (DEPLU) said.
"It's purely their own wishes – they were the ones who approached us and we were only facilitating their return," DEPLU spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said. "We were passive; they wanted to be sent back."
The two were among a group of 43 Papuans who sought political asylum in Australia in 2006, following alleged human rights abuses.
Australia's decision to grant visas to the group – who arrived on a boat to Cape York in January 2006 – sparked a diplomatic crisis in relations between Jakarta and Canberra.
DEPLU said the return of the pair was expected to "open the hearts and eyes of those who are still trying to pressure Indonesia" about the controversial Papuan issue.
"Those two Indonesian citizens have shown courage to take this position amidst the misinformation and pressure, because they believe they live in good conditions in Papua," DEPLU said in a statement.
"Their return also proves that persecution as a reason for asylum seekers is not proven at all." It also said the pair had been intimidated by other asylum seekers in their quest to return to Papua.
The return of the two Papuans comes a day after 18 men were arrested after raising the outlawed Morning Star flag in the province, and were found with several self-made weapons.
Indonesian news agency Antara reported the separatist flag fluttered for 15 minutes after it was raised 100m from a police precinct in Timika's Kwamki Baru subdistrict at 3.15am local time on Tuesday.
It was the second time the flag of the Free Papua Organisation was raised in Timika this month, after unidentified locals raised and lowered the flag on September 17 before police arrived, Antara reported.
Australia West Papua Association (Sydney) secretary Joe Collins said he did not know details but assumed the two may have wanted to return because they were homesick, especially if they were younger members of the group.
"Certainly it's not because there is freedom in West Papua and everything is hunky dorey," Collins said.
"The fact that people are being arrested for raising a flag shows that. Obviously Indonesia will use this to prove that there is no intimidation against West Papuans in West Papua. (But) I would say the situation in West Papua is getting worse."
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has previously pledged to end the low-level Papuan separatist insurgency, which has simmered since a 1969 UN-backed vote handed the mineral rich province to Jakarta, despite claims the vote was a sham.