Jayapura – At least 5,000 people in Indonesia's West Papua province face hunger and starvation after fleeing a military offensive against separatists, church leaders in the region said.

The ecumenical Christian Church Council in West Papua said in a late November statement that 15 people, including 13 children, already have died and many others were sick since the military offensive began August 17 in Puncak Jaya. "They have been starving in the refugee camps," said the Rev. Socrates SofyanYoman, council chairman.

Providing food and medical supplies to the refugees has been nearly impossible because the military has closed off the region to humanitarian aid workers, the statement said.

The situation has grown so desperate that church leaders in West Papua are calling on the government to withdraw all combat troops from the region. They also are calling on the government and military to allow humanitarian aid workers to assist the needy, the statement said.

The church leaders are accusing troops, including the Kopassus special forces unit, of human rights violations, the statement said. A Protestant minister, the Rev. Elisa Tabuni, was killed by Kopassus troops September 17 after the unit accused the minister of being a separatist, the statement said. Indonesian security forces also have destroyed people's homes and burned churches in Puncak Jaya, according to the statement.

The displaced will not return to their homes until troops leave their villages because in the past any West Papuan emerging from the forest was accused of being a separatist by Indonesian forces, the statement said. "As long as Indonesian combat troops are still controlling the region, Papuan refugees will not return to their homes and villages," Rev.

Yoman said. The Indonesian military began their latest operation in West Papua after accusing members of the Free Papua Movement of killing seven civilians. However, human rights groups in West Papua and Jakarta said the military orchestrated the incident by using local Papuans as militias. The Free Papua Movement has been waging a battle for self-determination for 41 years.

Hardus Desa, secretary for Bishop Leo Laba Ladjar of Jayapura, said church leaders were calling for an independent inquiry to examine the causes of the conflict in West Papua and the impact the most recent military operation has had on residents' lives.

Desa, who also serves as council secretary, said church leaders were seeking access to the displaced camps in order to help the refugees and assess their condition. "Church leaders believe that people living under this oppressive situation deeply need a pastoral visit," he said.

West Papua, formerly called Irian Jaya, was given to Indonesia by the United Nations in 1963. Indonesia annexed the region in 1969 following a referendum widely condemned as rigged. As part of the "Act of Free Choice," Indonesia handpicked 1,025 people from a population of about 1.7 million to vote in the referendum; voters were threatened with torture and death so they would accept Indonesian sovereignty.

About 100,000 residents of West Papua have been killed or disappeared during Indonesian rule.