West Papua will be given the opportunity to apply for observer status within the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

The Pacific Islands Forum is being told it must speak out about the ongoing instability in the Indonesian region of Papua.

At the the 42nd Meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) to be held in Auckland next week, AWPA calls on the PIF leaders to grant observer status to genuine representatives of the Wes

Maire Leadbeater – The Melanesian people of West Papua, neighbours to Papua New Guinea, say they belong to the Pacific region and that it is their home geographically, ethnically and cu

AWPA has written to the Pacific Islands Forum leaders urging them to discuss the human rights situation in West Papua at their summit in Auckland in September (letter below).

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
PO Box 28, Spit Junction
Sydney, Australia 2088

7 June 2011

Re West Papua and Pacific Islands Forum

The Free West Papua Association in Vanuatu has asked the coalition government of the prime minister, Sato Kilman, to clarify its position on the Papua issue.

The Papua Peace Network says the credibility of the Melanesian Spearhead Group will be tested by its decision to grant Indonesia observer status.

AWPA is encouraged by the statement from the Chairman of the MSG meeting, Ratu Inoke Kubuabol that "The Melanesia Spearhead Group feels for their brothers and sisters in West Papua".

Vanuatu's opposition leader, Edward Natapei, says the country should reconsider its membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).

As the Melanesian Speahead Group meeting goes ahead in Suva, an Australia-based pressure group is calling for full membership for West Papua.

Vanuatu's opposition leader, Edward Natapei, says he has grave concerns at the decision by the Melanesian Spearhead Group giving Indonesia observer status.

Repeka Nasiko – The Australian West Papua Association (AWPA) in Sydney has written a letter to Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) leaders urging them to discuss and speak out against the

In an open letter to the leaders of the MSG, AWPA calls on the MSG to give full membership to the Melanesian people of West Papua.

Several hundred people attended a demonstration in Jayapura on Tuesday 8 March, mostly from the Central Highlands Students Association, urging the provincial legislative assembly, the D

West Papuan solidarity groups met in Sydney on the 26 February to discuss issues of concern in relation to West Papua including the deteriorating human rights situation.

A Papuan pro-independence alliance is calling for Indonesia's application for observer status at meetings of the Melanesian Spearhead Group to be declined.

Dear brothers and sisters

Up to 100 people, arrested by Papua New Guinea police for allegedly illegally crossing the border from Indonesia, have been flown from Vanimo in Sandaun Province to Western Province.

The governor of Papua New Guinea's National Capital District is accusing the government of using a security operation along the Papua border to do Indonesia's dirty work.

AWPA has written to the PNG Prime Minister asking that the West Papuan people who have been apprehended during Operation Sunset Merona along the PNG/West Papuan border not be handed ove

A spokesperson for the Institute of Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights says the border between the Indonesian province and Papua New Guinea isn't recognised by the indigenous people livin

Papua New Guinea's acting deputy police commissioner says the 77 Papuans arrested in a border crackdown near Vanimo are being assessed for links with the Papuan liberation movement, the

A former Vanuatu prime minister and leader of the Melanesian Progressive Party, Barak Sope, has called on the government to continue to apply political, diplomatic and legal pressure on

A spokesman for Vanuatu's Prime Minister Edward Natapei has confirmed he did not raise the issue of the status of Indonesia's Papua last week while attending the United Nations General

American Samoa's US congressman, Faleomavaega Eni Faleomavaega says the Pacific should not turn its back on the Indonesian region of Papua.

Dev Nadkarni – John Otto Ondawame, Vice President of the West Papua National Council for Liberation, was a deeply disappointed man at the end the 41st Pacific Islands Forum summit in Po

Dina Indrasafitri, Jakarta – Flexible policy implementation in the field is required to handle tension in Papua, a natural resources-rich province plagued by decades of separatist movem

Indonesia Human Rights Committee,
Box 68-419,
Auckland, 1125
New Zealand

25 July, 2010

Dev Nadkarni – A push for independence in Indonesia's rich but troubled territory of Papua is set to become an issue for the Pacific Island Forum.

Re: Pacific Islands Forum

Dear Prime Minister,

Dear MSG leaders,

Dear Prime Minister,

A Vanuatu member of parliament says he's not worried about reaction from Indonesia to Vanuatu's attempts to get the question of West Papua raised internationally.

Vanuatu's parliament has unanimously passed a motion calling for the International Court of Justice to investigate the the legality of West Papua becoming part of Indonesia.

Vanuatu's Prime Minister, Edward Natapei, has said he will sponsor the issue of Papua to the Melane sian Spearhead Group and Pacific Islands Forum meetings.

A Vanuatu government MP says it's hoped that parliament's passing of a motion to raise issues around the status of Indonesian territories of New Guinea, at the United Nations, won't ups

The Indonesia Human Rights committee is urging Prime Minister Helen Clark to take a strong stand in support of the rights of the people of West Papua, at this year's Pacific Island Foru

The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association and the leader of the opposition have asked the Foreign Minister, Joe Natuman, not to meet the Indonesian government.

The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association has held a peaceful demonstration in Port Vila in support of West Papua's independence from Indonesia.

Ricky Binihi – West Papuans highly value their relationship with Vanuatu because of its former traditional staunch position on their plight.

The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association says the government needs to clarify its position on the independence of Papua.

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should use his visit to Papua New Guinea next month to discuss ways to work with Pacific nations to solve the issue of Papu

The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association says it hope to re-organise a march in support of independence for the West Papuan people of Indonesia within the next two weeks.

Ilya Gridneff, Port Moresby – Three Papua New Guinea politicians have joined an international campaign to support West Papuans persecuted by Indonesian authorities.

Cairns – West Papuans in Cairns to lobby the two-day Pacific Islands Forum for observer status and a response to the abuse of human rights in the Indonesian province have been disappoin

Vanuatu Prime Minister, Edward Natapei says there simply wasn't time to raise the issue of West Papua at the Pacific Islands forum meeting.

Leaders of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation were in Cairns North Queensland to push hard for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) to grant West Papua observer status and also

Border crossings between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea that were closed last month remain restricted due to the security situation in Papua province, a military official said on Tuesda

Several West Papuans are gathering in Cairns this week to lobby Pacific Islands Forum leaders at their annual summit to have Indonesia's Papua region discussed at the Forum.