Jakarta – About one thousand students from various universities in the Papua capital of Jayapura held a rally Monday to protest the government's decision to divide the province into three, Antara reported.

Gathered in front of the Papua council building, the students said the move would increase criminal activity in the resource-rich, but less developed province. Some students carried banners which read, "It Is Untimely to Separate Us", "Madame Mega, Do Not Separate Us With Your Decree", and "President has been Pitting Us against One Another".

Separately, about one hundred Papuan students in Jakarta staged similar protests at the office of the Coordinating Ministry of Security and Political Affairs.

The government last week issued Presidential Decree No 1/2003 in a bid to implement Law No 45/1999 over the establishment of West Irian Jaya, Central Irian Jaya and Papua provinces, as well as Paniai, Puncak Jaya and Mimika districts. The central government claimed that Papua – three-and-a-half times larger than Java – was just too large to be managed by one provincial administration.