Darmawan Triwibowo, Jayapura – On a Sunday evening, after considering various advice from colleagues, I decided to fly to Jayapura – just 10 days after violent protests rocked the city

By Max Lane

Executive summary

Maire Leadbeater – It is somewhat of an irony that West Papua's recent uprising coincided with the twentieth anniversary of East Timor's vote on independence.

Guteriano Neves – The 20th anniversary of the popular consultation that brought independence for Timor-Leste has been a time to celebrate the courage, determination, and persistence of

Bilveer Singh – Papua has been in constant turmoil for more than 50 years, especially following the territory's incorporation into Indonesia in 1969.

Binoy Kampmark – Like Timor-Leste, West Papua, commonly subsuming both Papua and West Papua, remains a separate ethnic entity, acknowledged as such by previous colonial powers.

Jakarta – Papua has a special place in President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's heart.

Evi Mariani – Indonesians love conspiracy theories. In 1999, I spent two months in Ambon, Maluku, just as a religious conflict between Muslims and Christians flared up.

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo must stop his plan to move the nation's capital.

Jakarta – Castration is a punishment that not only belongs in the past but that also violates human rights.

Jakarta – A number of problematic candidates have passed the selection process for the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission.

Luke Hunt – Twenty-years ago, Timor-Leste was tipped into the abyss.

Jakarta – If the government had been quicker to take the right steps to calm the situation, the disturbances in Papua would not have spread.

Selwyn Manning – It is clear and proper that New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is closely monitoring a concerning situation of deteriorating violence in West Papua.

West Papuan university students who have been attacked by non-Papuan civilian groups during unrest in the region say they simply seek self-determination.

Max Lane – While foreign news headlines in Singapore have been dominated by developments in Hong Kong in recent weeks, there is another protest close to home that bears watching.

Maire Leadbeater – The uprising that is engulfing Indonesian ruled West Papua has lifted the lid on a deep strand of indigenous anger and resentment.

Mark Beeson – Australia is one of the most outspoken and prominent supporters of the 'rules-based international order'.

Jonathan Pearlman – Off the tip of north Queensland is a looming problem that Australia has long tried to avoid: a people suppressed.

Lisa Davies – Australia's prestige in our region rests not just on our aid or our military might but also, we hope, on our reputation for dealing fair and straight.

Jennifer Robinson – Protests have been taking place across Indonesia on an unprecedented scale.

Rosita Dewi – In August, riots which started in East Java, Indonesia, in response to the involvement of soldiers and security officers persecuting Papuan students, spread to the provin

Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – The government is going the wrong way in managing the information flow from Papua, which has seen massive protests in several towns these last two weeks.

Binoy Kampmark – Cringe worthy, a touch molesting in sentiment: this was the celebratory occasion of the gathering of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison with his East Timorese co

Jonas Guterres – Every year on August 30, Timor-Leste celebrates Popular Consultation Day 1999.

Ivo Mateus Goncalves, Canberra – Today, the people of Timor-Leste will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the popular consultation, through which the nation restored the independence

Damien Kingsbury – In the weeks before Timor-Leste's historic vote for independence in 1999, there was a sense the horror and misery of the 24 years of Indonesian occupation were comin

Jakarta – Persecution and racial discrimination towards Papuan students in Malang and Surabaya cannot be justified for any reason whatsoever. Those responsible must be prosecuted.

David Fickling – Given a sad history of exploitation by foreigners, the young democracy of Timor-Leste can hardly be blamed for being hell-bent on self-sufficiency.

Anthony Whealy – The prosecution of witness K, a former intelligence agent, and his lawyer Bernard Collaery has raised considerable outrage.

Michael Leach – On August 30, Timor-Leste will celebrate the referendum that gave it independence from Indonesia.

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta – Almost no one, including Dili Catholic Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and independence fighter Kay Rale Xanana Gusmao, thought their homeland East Timor c

David Robie – Indonesia's harsh policies towards West Papua ought to be scrapped.

Jakarta – The outbreak of violent protests in West Papua and Papua provinces over racial abuse against Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on Monday should give this nation an impe

Camellia Webb-Gannon – Last weekend, the Indonesian police took 43 West Papuan students into custody for allegedly disrespecting the Indonesian flag during an independence day celebrat

Mica Barreto Soares – This month, Timor-Leste is in a festive mood, celebrating the 20th anniversary of its independence referendum.

Made Supriatma – Indonesia's [1] riots over the disputed presidential election [2] this year were the worst since the 1998 unrest that toppled long-time strongman Suharto.

Maire Leadbeater – The Pacific Islands Forum holds its annual meeting this week.

James Guild and Jonathan Chen – In April 2019, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo cruised to a comfortable re-election victory against his challenger, Prabowo Subianto.

Keith Loveard, Jakarta – Construction workers building a bridge as part of the Trans-Papua Highway late last year knew there was a separatist group in the area.

Jose Ramos-Horta – As Timorese and Australians work round the clock preparing to celebrate two milestones in Timor-Leste's recent history – the independence vote on 30 August and the a

Juhri Selamet – Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry has failed to communicate the risk of air pollution in the capital, Jakarta, and surrounding areas.

Yamin Kogoya, Auckland – More than 50 years of "torture" has been inflicted on the Papuan people by the Indonesian government.

Yamin Kogoya – More than 50 years of torture has been inflicted on the Papuan people by the Indonesian Government.

Zac Williams – The West Papuan independence movement has been ongoing for more than half a century.

Made Ayu Mariska – In the 2019 Indonesian presidential election, there were more female voters than male voters.

Viji Menon – The political gridlock in parliament in 2017-2018, which resulted in its inability to pass the 2018 budget, led to the second general election in May 2018.

James Massola, Jakarta – It has been nearly a year since Indonesia's President, Joko Widodo, formally put his name forward as a candidate for a second term in office.

Jakarta – If the definition of civilian supremacy is a democratic system in which the military is under the control of an elected civilian authority, then Indonesia could fit the descr

Amy Goodman & Nermeen Shaikh – In Indonesia, at least six people have died and hundreds have been injured after supporters of former military commander Prabowo Subianto took to the