Indonesia's military is exploiting prejudices against indigenous Papuans so it can remain in the impoverished region, an Australian researcher said.
Victorian University researcher Richard Chauvel said the Indonesian army (TNI) retained a stronger presence in Papua's troubled Central Highlands than did the local government, with no signs of decreasing. He called for the role of the security forces in Papua to be clarified.
"Military presence is a legacy there," Chauvel told the Australia Indonesia Governance Research Partnership (AIGRP) forum in Jakarta on Monday. "That's the impression we got... that the military has influence and 'meddled in'... (people) describing the political situations in the region."
He said people living in the region were suspicious and very guarded in expressing their views. "The atmosphere is people were really always looking over their shoulder," he said.
Troop numbers in Papua have increased in recent years, with the International Crisis Group estimating there are 12,000 Indonesian troops in Papua, and 2,000 to 2,500 paramilitary police.
The Free Papua Movement has been fighting for an independent Papua since the 1960s.
In July, Human Rights Watch said that the security forces still killed, tortured and raped civilians to curb separatism.
An Indonesian researcher from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Vidhyandika Perkasa, said he was followed when he conducted research in the province.
"They followed me everywhere, and shut the electricity off, even took my picture with their mobile phone," Perkasa said. "Maybe (the military intelligence) are scared we are giving influence (to the people)."
People were generally more pressured in towns such as Wamena, rather than the capital Jayapura.
Chauvel said the reason the military was trying so hard to keep the area closed to outsiders and foreigners was they wanted to keep Wamena and the rest of Central Highlands as their stronghold.
"I think that's the interest of the military institutions," he said. "I don't know which one because they have many units, the special forces of the Army, (of) the Special Forces (themselves),... and they all have deployment there."
He added the military and some government officials stigmatised the people of the Central Highlands as separatists, exploiting this to remain in the region. "By underlining this perception that it is a volatile area, it bears conflict, separatists, it is like vindicating the existence of the security forces."
A Papuan government source said the military deployment in Papua received direct orders from Jakarta, but its activities often clashed with central government policies. "Some people from the Foreign ministry believed they should open Papua more, but the military refused," the source said.
The Indonesian government had tried to empower the Papuans, providing them with education and new infrastructure, but the problems are complex.
The region has been dogged by a series of bloody incidents in the past decade, including killings and kidnappings, but solid numbers are sketchy as the area is largely closed to outsiders.