Andrew Mathieson – Indonesian military strikes in Indigenous West Papuan territory have forced civilians to flee villages and refugee camps into the forests for shelter.
The air and land raids in the Puncak Regency, an administrative division of Indonesia, have continued through this month since the first of the operations were launched on January 31.
Recent West Papuan social media posts report a flood of people cut off from food sources and other basic supplies.
The affected Papuans had been residing in the Kembru district in Puncak, which had initially become a refuge for those already displaced by earlier fighting in Pogoma and other surrounding districts.
At least nine separate villages in the district had been affected by the military operations.
Indonesian authorities were also believed to have cut internet access for a number of days, which prevented civilians from reporting what was happening locally to the outside world.
Human Rights Defenders say they have witnessed drone strikes near civilian settlements and refugee sites, leading to families having little choice but to flee on foot for several kilometres through forests.
More civilians from Puncak have sought safety and refuge in the regency's villages of Sinak and Yambi.
Human Rights Defenders, an official term within the international human rights community which according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights can include community leaders, journalists, lawyers and students or members of human rights organisations, have demanded that refugee areas be protected under international law.
In a statement, the advocates have asked for an immediate stop to the Indonesian military operations in civilian and refugee areas; protection and humanitarian access for displaced communities; and respect for the human rights of civilians in the Central Papua province of the Indonesian state.
"If operations are against armed groups, civilians must not be placed in harm's way," the statement said.
Benny Wenda, the chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua and founder of the Free West Papua campaign, acting on behalf of three united independence groups seeking sovereignty for the Western New Guinean land, has confirmed the reports of violence.
Mr Wenda says this is an ongoing colonial project, sustained by foreign governments that continue to arm Jakarta and legitimised by the "shameful silence" of Asian-Pacific regional powers including Australia.
"We are murdered, tortured, and raped, and then our land is stolen for resource extraction and corporate profit when we flee," he told the Asia Pacific Solidarity Network on the eve of the first military strikes.