As Parliamentarians, lawyers, and supporters of West Papua, we urge the leaders of the five Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) member groups to upgrade the membership status of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) at the upcoming MSG leaders' summit.
West Papua is a place of ongoing and severe human rights abuses, which occur with very little international oversight due to a strict ban on journalists entering West Papua.
We note that the ULMWP is already an Observer member of the MSG; that upgrading their membership status is within the remit of the MSG; and that a consensus must be formed in order to approve it. We appeal to the Agreement Establishing the MSG, which undertakes to "promote, coordinate and strengthen... exchange of Melanesian cultures, traditions and values, sovereign equality... to further MSG members' shared goals of economic growth, sustainable development, good governance, peace, and security." We consider that all these ambitions would be advanced by upgrading ULMWP membership.
We welcomed the statement delivered at the most recent MSG leaders' summit in 2023, which urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct a human rights mission into West Papua and to look at the root causes of the conflict. Noting the severity of the human rights situation in West Papua, we also welcomed the MSG's request that the visit take place before the next leaders' summit, then scheduled for 2024. Two years on, Indonesia has failed to honour their promise and facilitate a UN visit. As we stated in the 2024 Brussels Declaration, Indonesia's continued refusal is a violation of its obligations as a UN member state.
The importance of upgraded MSG membership for the ULMWP is emphasized by the deteriorating human rights situation in West Papua. According to human rights defenders on the ground, over 97,000 West Papuans are currently internally displaced by Indonesian military operations. Meanwhile, arbitrary arrest, torture, and killing continue with impunity, with more than ten Papuan civilians killed by Indonesian soldiers in the last month alone. Indonesia is also destroying the unique West Papuan landscape on an unprecedented scale. We note with particular concern the construction of the Merauke rice and sugarcane project – described as the largest deforestation project ever launched – which is set to clear 3-million-acres of West Papuan forest, wetland, and savannah.
In light of Indonesia's continued refusal to honour its obligations to the international community, it is incumbent upon all countries to use other diplomatic means to highlight human rights violations in West Papua. MSG leaders have a unique opportunity to do this.
From a political standpoint, we believe that upgrading the ULMWP's membership of the MSG is a necessary first step towards resolving the six-decade-long West Papuan conflict. There can be no just or lasting peace in West Papua until the West Papuan people are allowed to voice their desire for self-determination.
We urge MSG leaders to upgrade the ULMWP's existing membership status.
- IPWP Chair: Alex Sobel MP, Labour Party, UK
- IPWP Vice-Chair: Gorka Elejabarrieta, Basque Country, Spanish State
- IPWP Vice-Chair: President Carles Puigdemont MEP Catalonia, Spanish State
- ILWP Chair: Tim Hansen