Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – After the Helsinki peace deal that brought peace to Aceh, the central government has been urged to focus more on resolving the problems in Papua.

"There is mounting resentment against the central government as shown by the big protests two weeks ago. The government has to respond to it seriously otherwise Papua will remain a pebble in the shoe of the Indonesian government in international forums," said Papuan leader Fadel Al Hamid, the secretary of the Papua Tribal Council.

The protests that Fadel was referring to took place on Aug. 12 and were participated in by some 10,000 people in Jayapura and other Papuan cities. During the rallies, the protesters condemned the central government for its failure to implement the special autonomy scheme.

The massive expression of disappointment came just weeks after some members of the US Congress proposed a bill questioning the validity of the process that led to the 1969 "Act of Free Choice" in Papua, when a group of some 1,000 selected Papuan leaders voted unanimously to become part of the Republic of Indonesia. The protests were seen as an avenue through which more pressure cut be put on the central government to pay attention to the plight of indigenous Papuans.

According to the protesters, special autonomy has failed as there has been no improvement in the economic circumstances of native Papuans.

The economy in Papua is largely controlled by migrants. Traditional markets and strategic outlets, especially those along the streets are controlled by the newcomers who mostly hail from Java and South Sulawesi province, while Papuan traders have less strategic outlets, thus causing them to earn less money. The Papuans are also less experienced at trading and local activists argue that the government has to come up with strategies to narrow the gap.

Providing protection for indigenous Papuans in the economic realm is mandated by the Special Autonomy Law, said Fadel.

Edi Togotlit, the chairman of the Keerom Church Association, echoed Fadel's comments. Despite the implementation of the Special Autonomy Law, which gives greater powers to the Papuan government to manage its own affairs, most Papuans still live in abject poverty.

"Strangely, shortly after the implementation of the Special Autonomy Law, many Papuan bureaucrats suddenly became rich. But the people are still mired in poverty," said Edi. Edi argued that the special autonomy scheme contained major flaws and had to be improved.

The director of the Civil Society Strengthening (ICS) organization, Budi Setyanto, said that the government had not been consistent in implementing special autonomy. After the Special Autonomy Law took effect in 2001, President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued Presidential Decree No. 1/2003 to facilitate the establishment of the new West Irian Jaya province, thus partitioning Papua province.

The issuance of this presidential decree was followed by the actual establishment of West Irian Jaya, which fueled resentment among Papuans as it blatantly violated the Special Autonomy Law, which states that the establishment of a new province must be approved by the Papuan People's Council, while, in fact, West Irian Jaya was established before the MRP had even been set up.

If the central government wants Papua to remain part of Indonesia, it will have to implement the special autonomy scheme in a consistent manner, said Budi.

There have been concerns in the Indonesian government that Papua could ultimately secede from Indonesia. These concerns emanate from fact that the Papuan separatist movement actively campaigns for Papuan independence abroad. The armed wings of the Papuan separatist movement have also been waging a low intensity insurgency since Indonesia took control of the mountainous, jungle-clad territory from the Dutch in 1963. The annexation of Papua took place a year after independence-minded Papuans announced independence on Dec. 1, 1962.

However, unlike the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the separatist movement is not yet a significant threat to the Indonesian military as it is split into many uncoordinated factions.