36th Pacific Islands Forum, Papua New Guinea, 25-27 October 2005

Only two months after John Howard pledged Australian government support For Indonesia's territorial integrity, Australians from the National Coalition of West Papua Solidarity Groups me

Len Garae, Port Vila – Vanuatu's Prime Minister has blamed "foreign elements" for an incident last week where the Indonesian flag on the vehicle of Jakarta's ambassador to Port Vila was

Green MP Keith Locke returned today from a three-day trip to West Papua conveying a request from Papuan leaders that New Zealand champion their cause at the Pacific Islands Forum.

Ricky Binihi – Vanuatu chiefs at the recent Melanesian Trust conference held in Tanna have unanimously agreed with other Melanesian representatives that Independence is a God-given righ

Angela Gregory – Pacific countries are ignoring the brutality of Indonesian armed forces towards West Papuans, a regional peace and security conference has been told.

Port Vila – The West Papua freedom fighters are enjoying unprecedented support from the Vanuatu Government.

With a long tradition of supporting independence movements in the Pacific, Vanuatu has taken the lead to support dialogue on the future of the Indonesian province of Papua.

Indonesia has expressed alarm at the opening of a Papuan People's office in Vanuatu.

Jakarta – Papua New Guinea (PNG) has reportedly expelled members of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) from its territory after setting a January 19 deadline to do so, Antara has

Jakarta – The government threatened on Wednesday to end diplomatic ties with the Republic of Vanuatu if the country continued to support the Free Papua Organization (OPM) in its struggl

Ben Bohane, Port Vila – A senior Indonesian diplomat who went to Vanuatu last week on a mission to try and persuade the Vanuatu government against supporting the West Papuan independenc

Papuan independence activists have welcomed Vanuatu's strong support for their cause at the United Nations, and have urged other Pacific countries to add their voice to the campaign.

Rodney Joyce, Aiwo, Nauru – South Pacific island nation leaders on Friday backed Indonesian plans for autonomy in Irian Jaya rather than the independence Melanesian separatists are seek

Jakarta – Australia has urged fellow members of the Pacific Forum not to debate independence for Indonesia's Irian Jaya province at its annual meeting this week, an Indonesian MP said M

Jakarta – At least 500 Irianese are seeking refuge in Papua New Guinea (PNG) due to fear of erupting violence from clashes between rebel groups and the Indonesian security authorities,

Muara Tami – Scores of refugees fleeing feared clashes between separatists and troops in Irian Jaya were Tuesday camped at the Indonesian province's border with Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Hamish Mcdonald, Tarawa, Kiribati – Pacific nations – including Australia – have given secessionists in Indonesia's West Papua province an important win with a formal statement of conce

Andrew Kilvert, Jayapura – A group of Indonesian settlers held hostage by self-proclaimed Irian Jaya rebels were returned home yesterday after a 27-day ordeal in the remote Bewani valle