Jakarta – A fugitive from the law who has been sought by police over the 2019 riots in Papua, Victor Yeimo, was arrested in Jayapura, Papua, on Sunday May 9.

Jakarta – The police's Nemangkawi task force in Papua has just arrested a man in Mimika Regency for allegedly talking about "genocide" against Papuans in his Facebook account. The police accused him of spreading hate speech.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia on Saturday welcomed a fresh shipment of around 1.3 million doses of Astrazeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, acquired via the global procurement scheme Covax Facility.

Ayat S. Karokaro, South Tapanuli, Indonesia – The death toll from a landslide at the site of a hydropower plant being built in Indonesia's Batang Toru forest has risen to 10, with three people still missing and feared dead, authorities said.

Linda Yulisman, Banyuwangi, East Java – As Hari Raya Aidilfitri approaches next Thursday (May 13), Banyuwangi resident Fitri Koreasari is looking forward to cooking up a feast for her family – a spread that will include festive favourites chicken opor and beef rendang.

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – Indonesian street food vendor Ahmad Dedi and his family arrived at Jakarta's Pasar Senen train station from the neighbouring city of Bekasi more than six hours before their departure to Kebumen, Central Java, on Tuesday (May 4) evening.

Resty Woro Yuniar – Travel bans in Indonesia and Malaysia aimed at stemming the traditional exodus ahead of the Eid ul-Fitr religious festival may do little to prevent a rise in Covid-19 infections, health experts have said, with one warning an India-style flare-up is possible.

A former Indonesian military commander has condemned the formal labelling of the West Papuan resistance TPN/OPN as "terrorists", saying that the Papuan problem was complex and could not be solved by armed force alone.

Among other critics of the tagging are the Papua provincial Governor, Lukas Enembe and a Papuan legal researcher.

Human Rights Watch is urging the Indonesian government to rethink its classification of rebels in West Papua as terrorists.

Indonesia has formally designated Papuan independence fighters as "terrorists", in a move expected to expand the military's role in civillian policing in Papua.

A "tantric full body orgasm" event scheduled for this weekend in Ubud has caused some online hubbub as news about the retreat makes national headlines, prompting an official investigation by immigration authorities today.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste has ordered all its citizens to comply and be tested on demand for Covid-19 or be forced into quarantine if they refuse.

The order was passed by the country's Council of Ministers on May 5.

Dozens of dogs escaped getting slaughtered for their meat as they were being smuggled across provincial borders, though some sadly died during the inhumane transportation conditions.

Yesterday, two men, one from Jakarta and another from Central Java, drove a pickup truck carrying 78 dogs – which were shoved inside burlap sacks – and were headed for Solo, Central Java.

The enforcement of the mudik ban in the Greater Jakarta Area will be monitored by local neighborhood or community units, an official has said, as Indonesia enters day two of banning the annual Eid homecoming tradition.

Jakarta – The government will impose sanctions on those who defy the 2021 Idul Fitri homecoming ban as a drastic measure to contain coronavirus transmission.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – The Gerakan Indonesia Kita (GITA) or Our Indonesia Movement has blasted the decision of Garut Regent Rudy Gunawan, whom they said had hindered the freedom to worship of Ahmadiyah followers, after the regent issued a circular that effectively banned religious activities of the Ahmadiyah Indonesia congregation and halted the construction of their house

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – Former commissioner of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Yoseph Stanley Adi Prasetyo in a Friday virtual discussion gave his opinion about the government's recently labelling armed separatists in Papua as terrorists.

Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – The Jakarta provincial government is still recording new cases of Covid-19. As of Thursday, May 6, it logged 905 confirmed cases over the last 24 hours.

The city's Health Agency Head of Disease Prevention and Control Unit, Dwi Oktavia, said the additional cases were obtained from the results of PCR swab tests carried out on 15,307 specimens.

Vidhyandika Djati Perkasa and Alif Satria – On April 29, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal, and Security Affairs formally labelled Papua's armed criminal organization (KKB), also known as the West Papua National Army-Free Papua Organization (TNPB-OPM), a terrorist organization.

Vatican News staff reporter – The Church in the province of Papua in Indonesia is calling on military leaders and rebel groups to declare a truce to avoid the risk of escalation of violence in the region.

Iman Rahman Cahyadi, Jakarta – More than 8.4 million Indonesian citizens have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine as of Friday, government figures show, but the number represents a tiny percentage of the country's 270 million population.

Jakarta – A new analysis from the University of Washington's Institute of Health Metric and Evaluations, or IHME, has suggested that the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Indonesia, as well as in the world, could be more than twice the reported figure, changing the picture about the scale and risk of the pandemic.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Indonesia could lose an area of tropical rainforest bigger than Belgium to oil palm plantations over the next three years without existing measures to slow this loss, activists warn. This would negate the government's own commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

Ronna Nirmala and Tria Dianti, Jakarta – Indonesia's military and national police chiefs visited the rebellious Papua region Friday, in a rare joint trip to discuss security there with field commanders after insurgents dealt government forces setbacks, including assassinating an army general last month.

Maharani, Jakarta – Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Director Asfinawati says that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is responsible for efforts to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which have become apparent recently.

According to Asfinawati, aside from other actors such as the House of Representatives (DPR), the President also played a part.

Indonesia's Culture, Education, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim is insisting on resuming face-to-face learning in schools in July, despite great concerns that reopening schools would lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Health authorities in Banten province say they have detected two dangerous mutations of the coronavirus in three patients from the Greater Tangerang Area so far, raising alarm for a possible spread to the capital Jakarta and beyond.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – A popular Islamic cleric in Indonesia has come under fire for claiming that Catholics only go to church on Sundays to pray to St. Dominic.

Jakarta has begun administering COVID-19 shots to people aged 18 and above, becoming one of the first provinces in the country to target the general public in its mass vaccination drive.

As stated in a press release by the Jakarta Provincial Government, starting May 5, health authorities in the capital have begun administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to the general public.

M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – Hundreds of factory workers from West Karawang staged a demonstration in KM 31 of Cikarang toll road as they could not enter Bekasi because of the toll road closure.

Tsarina Maharani, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) says that the virtual police unit initiated by Indonesian police chief (Kapolri) General Lusty Sight Prabowo has become a new tool of repression in the digital world.

Antara, Jakarta – State-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga recorded 414,774 vehicles leaving the Greater Jakarta area just one day before the ban on mass exodus or 'mudik ban' was imposed on May 6, 2021.

Senator the Hon Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6100
Senate
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

7 May November 2021

Dear Foreign Minister,

I am writing to you concerning the seriously deteriorating situation in West Papua.

Indonesia has deployed 400 more soldiers in the easternmost region of Papua, an army spokesman said on Thursday, as an exiled separatist leader warned that the military looked set to launch its biggest security operation in the area in decades.

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has called in a commitment by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo who once pledged to resolve the human rights violations in Paniai, Papua.

Antara, Jakarta – Gerindra Party secretary Ahmad Muzani said on Thursday, May 6, 2021, that the party members are hoping that the party's chairperson and current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is willing to run for the presidency in the 2024 presidential election.

Mark Bowling – Church human rights activists have demanded an end to violence and killing in Indonesia's easternmost Papua and West Papua provinces following an escalation of rebel attacks and a military crackdown.

Jakarta – The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) has requested military intervention from the United Nations (UN) Security Forces. It also seeks support from the European Union, African-Caribbean-Pacific States, and all UN members as advocated in UN Resolution 2625 (XXV) on the right to independence and self-determination for colonized nations.

By Izzy Brown, as told to Zelda Grimshaw

"They make great trucks. That's what my father says whenever I ask him: "What do they make? Who do they sell them to?" "Only to the good guys," is his standard answer, and the topic changes quickly. But what he calls "trucks", most people call "tanks". And I am always led to wonder, "What kind of 'good guy' drives a tank?"

Fana Suparman, Dwi Argo Santosa, Jakarta – The employees' association of the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, alleged on Wednesday that there was an attempt to dismiss certain investigators through the so-called nationalism test.

A man who achieved viral infamy for his vehemently anti-mask stance has been made an ambassador to promote health protocols, since Indonesian authorities love to punish people that way for some reason.

Police in the East Java capital of Surabaya this week summoned a man for questioning, after a video showing him mocking masked mall visitors circulated widely.

Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – The National Covid-19 task force on Tuesday recorded an increase in people's mobility especially in shopping centers amid a stricter restriction to curb Covid-19 spread.

Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman – The Indonesian economy saw the latest in a series of diminishing contractions in the first quarter of 2021, staying on course for an economic recovery as the government kept up its fiscal support and ramped up the COVID-19 vaccination drive to allow people and businesses to bounce back from the pandemic.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – Health experts are urging the Morrison government to accelerate its delivery of doses to East Timor amid a deepening crisis there that has led China's vaccine diplomacy to reach Australia's doorstep.

Max Walden – The Indonesian government has vowed "strict punishment" for several staff members of a state-owned pharmaceutical company accused of reusing cotton swabs for COVID-19 tests at a busy international airport.

Shotaro Tani, Jakarta – Indonesia's economy shrank for the fourth straight quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic remains a drag on Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Ebed de Rosary, Kupang, Indonesia – In Indonesia's arid, southern East Nusa Tenggara province, clean water is hard to come by.

The issue made national headlines last year when an "extreme drought" triggered clean water shortages in different parts of the archipelagic province, from Rote in the south to Flores in the north.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Indonesian journalists marked World Press Freedom Day on May 3 by calling on the government and parliament to revise a law they say has been used to gag and persecute them.

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Train stations and airports in Jakarta were packed with travellers making a last-ditch effort to leave the capital city, with the government set to impose another ban on Thursday (May 6) on the annual exodus to other provinces marking the end of Ramadan.

Officials and staff at Indonesia's Social Affairs Ministry went to a karaoke bar on numerous occasions and paid for their nights out using ill-gotten money in a massive COVID-19 aid bribery scandal, a court heard.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, thousands of Jakartans are racing to beat the mudik ban before it comes into effect tomorrow, inundating the capital's travel hubs.