Pacnews – In a renewed wave of airstrikes, Indonesia has bombed several villages in Ilaga, Puncak Regency, West Papua – displacing entire communities and reigniting memories of past atrocities.
According to Benny Wenda, Interim President of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), "Indonesia has launched a number of devastating airstrikes on a handful of villages in Ilaga, Puncak Regency."
These attacks, coming on the heels of last week's deadly strikes, have reportedly killed one Papuan civilian and left another seriously injured.
Wenda said the operation, which is ongoing, has targeted seven villages.
"All of their inhabitants have been displaced, forced to flee into the bush and live as refugees in their own ancestral lands."
He condemned the military's use of churches as bases, calling it "a longstanding TNI practice which is in breach of humanitarian law," and questioned regional silence.
"This should be a wakeup call for Pacific leaders – are we not fellow Christians? Do our holy places do not deserve protection from this brutality?"
Images surfacing from the region show civilians holding the Indonesian flag – not in allegiance, but in desperation.
"The images that have emerged – of terrified West Papuan refugees carrying the Indonesian flag as a symbol of surrender – remind me of my childhood in 1977," Wenda said.
"My tribe also carried the Indonesian flag to try and keep our women and children safe. Nonetheless, many were imprisoned, raped, and tortured, and many thousands were massacred."
He drew direct parallels between the past and present.
"Indonesia used U.S-made Bronco aircraft to strafe and bomb my village from the air; now, they use even more technologically advanced helicopters and planes, as well as drones assembled in China and Europe. In both cases, the majority of refugees are women and children."
Wenda warned that the military escalation, which began in Intan Jaya, has expanded to other parts of the highlands, including Puncak, with no clear end in sight. "We do not know where it will end."
Calling for urgent international intervention with a clear list of demands, he said "Indonesia has hidden West Papua from the world for over six decades, the only evidence we have of these operations is shaky video footage from civilian journalists."
"1) Allow all journalists, foreign and domestic, media to report freely from West Papua 2) immediately allow the visit to West Papua by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, demanded by over 110 UN member states 3) withdraw your military from West Papua and allow the IDPs to return home," he said.