Cairns – West Papuans in Cairns to lobby the two-day Pacific Islands Forum for observer status and a response to the abuse of human rights in the Indonesian province have been disappointed.
Neither of its requests is recognised in the official communiqui issued at the end of the forum – the 40th.
West Papua National Coalition for Liberation deputy president Dr Otto Ondawame immediately issued a statement saying: "This is hypocrisy.
How could they concern themselves about human rights and democracy issues in other parts of the world but ignore what is happening next door? By not protesting or even mentioning the violence in West Papua you are infect encourage it to continue."
The Pacific Islands Forum clearly stated its concerns about the situation in West Papua during its 37th forum meeting in Fiji.
"We would have hoped that the PIF be consistent with its concerns because the situation is not improving at all. Regardless of this setback our Coalition will continue to work for a peaceful and dignified solution to the West Papuan issue."
The coalition's secretary general Rex Rumakiek said: "We will never stop until once again we become part of the Pacific community as we were when we were a member of the South Pacific Commission from 1947-1962."
Australia West Papua Association secretary Joe Collins said before the forum began that the gathering had previously responded to such request by listing its concerns about human rights in West Papua in its official communiqui.
But pressure from the Australian and Indonesian governments has recently kept the issue off the forum's agenda, she said. The Australia West Papua Association wants the forum to send a fact finding mission to West Papua to investigate the complaints.
The Pacific Islands Forum – formerly the South Pacific Forum – consists of 16 independent and self-governing Pacific States. Its members are: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Niue, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
New Caledonia and French Polynesia attended the formal session as associate members. East Timor, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna attended as observers.
West Papuan representatives have regularly attended the forum in an effort to have the participants raise their complaints with the Indonesian government.
They have also asked that genuine representatives of the West Papuan people be granted observer status at the forum in the way it has been granted to several other non-self governing territories of the Pacific.
The forum's final communiqui highlights the threat of climate change to the Pacific islands and the consequences of the global economic contraction but without providing specific remedies.