Jakarta – After holding Susi Air pilot Phillips Mehrtens captive in the jungle for 594 days and keeping his family in the dark regarding his safety, the armed Papuan rebels eventually released the New Zealand national on Sept. 21, and instead of showing remorse, acted as if they were his saviors.
But given the complexity of the decades-long conflict in the natural resource-rich land, the rebels alone cannot take the blame for the situation.
Mehrtens's freedom is an incredible joy for his wife, their child, relatives and friends. Hopefully, Mehrtens and his family will soon start their life anew with full support from many stakeholders, including the New Zealand government, and Susi Air, where he worked until his captivity. The physical and psychological recovery of the 38-year-old pilot may be more difficult than people can imagine.
He was abducted after his plane landed in Nduga, known as a stronghold of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) rebel group, on Feb. 7, 2023. Immediately after dropping off his passengers and before picking up a group of 15 construction workers and flying back, he was ambushed by the armed group, who also burned the plane. Nduga in the Papua highlands is accessible only by air.
From then on, the pilot became the victim of the conflict and the stubborn behavior of the government, which has maintained a security approach to deal with the Papua problem.
Many foreign pilots are working either for aviation companies or religious missions in remote areas of Papua, which their Indonesian counterparts avoid because of the territory's difficult terrain and lack of public facilities. The abduction of Mehrtens and the killing of another New Zealand pilot Glen Malcolm Conning on Aug. 6 allegedly by the rebels show how dangerous working in Papua can be.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters described the negotiations to release Mehrtens as nerve-racking. "It was always a concern of ours that we might not succeed. The hardest thing in an environment with no trust is to establish trust." The minister had worked intensively with many stakeholders in Jakarta and Papua.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon welcomed the release. "My appreciation to all those in Indonesia and New Zealand who have supported this positive outcome for Phillip and his family," Luxon said.
Mehrtens's release proved the power of negotiation over the use of violence. Joint military and police operations had been launched to hunt down members of the West Papua Liberation Army (TPN-PB), the military wing of OPM, which hold Mehrtens hostage in Nduga. Such operations often forced civilians to flee their homes for fear of abuse and intimidation.
In 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Agency cited "shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans, including child killings, disappearances, torture and mass displacement of people" and urged Indonesia to open unrestricted humanitarian access to the country's easternmost territory.
Low key armed rebellion has plagued Papua while aspirations for independence from Indonesia have constantly been heard amid the socioeconomic injustices the people have endured. Papua has remained the poorest and least developed region in Indonesia, despite its rich natural resources. Trillions of special autonomy funds have been poured into Papua since 2002, but its human development index has remained the lowest in the country.
As Mehrtens is reunited with his family, the government needs to promote dialogue in its bid to bring lasting peace to Papua. Enforcement of the law is mandatory, especially for the perpetrators of the fatal attack on Conning, as well as to prevent acts of violence against civilians and the misuse of development funds, making sure justice is served.
Demand for independence and dissent will continue growing in Papua if the government fails protect the Papuans. They, like Mehrtens, have been longing for freedom – from poverty, marginalization and discrimination.
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2024/09/26/mehrtens-is-free-hows-papua.htm