Indonesia, West Papua – The 54th Pacific Islands Forum, held 8-12 September 2025 in Honiara, Solomon Islands, concluded with leaders celebrating achievements on climate resilience and regional security. Similar to previous PIF communiques, Pacific leaders devoted one paragraph to West Papua in their final communique.
The statement reaffirmed "the Forum's ongoing recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty over West Papua (Papua)" while recalling "Indonesia's 2018 invitation for a mission led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights" and tasking "the Secretariat to work constructively with Indonesia on a proposed visit by Forum Leaders Envoys in 2026, in consultation with the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat" (see paragraph 16).
The forum's reserved engagement with West Papua was underscored by the reported ban on raising the Morning Star flag in Honiara due to Indonesian pressure, revealing the extent of external influence on Pacific decision-making at a summit themed "Iumi Tugeda" ("We are Together") Pacific Islands Forum's limited action on West Papua undermines the vision of a united Blue Pacific. Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka acknowledged the tension between "Melanesian solidarity with the people of West Papua" and "respecting sovereignties of states," noting after his 2025 visit to Indonesia that he saw a Papuan cabinet member, leading him to observe: "So they are integrated, as far as Indonesia is concerned, but perhaps the leaders in West Papua think otherwise. The reference to Indonesia's 2018 UN High Commissioner invitation highlights the persistent gap between rhetoric and action, as UN special rapporteurs and treaty bodies have sought access to West Papua since the early 1990s, with requests in 2012, 2013, 2018, and 2019 all failing despite Indonesia's stated willingness.
The 2025 communique's treatment of West Papua represents continuity rather than progress. Pacific leaders are hesitant to take substantive action by proposing another fact-finding mission seven years after the original invitation while reaffirming Indonesian sovereignty. Critics argue this approach undermines the Pacific's credibility as a moral voice on decolonisation, leaving West Papuans to endure what some described as a slow-motion genocide. For West Papuan communities experiencing ongoing militarisation, mass displacement, and systematic human rights violations documented throughout 2025, the communique offers little hope that Pacific regional solidarity extends meaningfully to their situation, leaving one of Melanesia's largest populations with only limited regional support.