Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Two senior campaigners of the Papua Free Movement (OPM) surrendered over the weekend with a statement praising the significant progress the province has achieved.
Franz Albert Joku and Nicholas Simion Messet handed over their surrender letter to Alwi Hamu, an official at the Vice President's office, in a thanks-giving gathering Saturday in Sentani, some 40 kilometers from Jayapura.
Franz was a moderator of OPM for the Asia-Pacific region and became a leading campaigner for Papua's independence for three decades while Nicholas has been living in Sweden for 38 years with a similar job for European countries.
During the gathering, Alwi called on thousands of Papuans living overseas to follow suit, and help develop Indonesia's resource-rich easternmost province.
Franz and Nicholas appreciated the gathering and vowed to take an active role in developing the province under the special autonomy.
They said they surrendered and came home because they had been fighting for the province. They were also surprised at the significant progress the province has achieved in their time spent in refuge overseas.
"We see many major changes, the people are no longer afraid of soldiers, or being imprisoned. Much has been achieved but much more needs to fought for, for a better future," Franz said.
Between 27,000 and 30,000 Papuans have been living in refugee camps in Papua New Guinea in efforts to make a safe, free, fair, prosperous and sovereign Papua, he said.
"One way to reach this goal is a secession from the Indonesian unitary state. This is the way our parents have chosen and was what we were fighting for," Franz said.
"But this goal has not been achieved and while we struggled, many advancements have been made in Papua, including political reforms and democracy," he said.
He said that independence was a goal, but one way to reach that goal was "to come back to make more progress in the future."
Asked on whether or not the two would be branded as traitors, Franz said they could not force their thoughts on other fighters.
"Independence is not the only way to reach the goal and all Papuans who are still living overseas should come back home to develop Papua and its people."
The two said they did not know what they wanted to do but were ready to help the government develop the province and to be mediators with those still living abroad.
Previously, many other OPM combatants have surrendered themselves on learning the secessionist movement was weakening, particularly after Indonesia began entering the reform era in 1998.
The movement won strong sympathy from Papuan people after former president Soeharto's authoritarian rule which launched a major military operation to crush it. Special autonomy was declared for the region by Jakarta in 2001 in a peaceful solution to prolonged conflicts, as was declared in Aceh.