Hamish McDonald – Thirty years ago I met a Papuan man called Imser in a place called Valley X, high in the mountainous spine of the Indonesian half of New Guinea.

Mike Carlton – Some background for you on the story of those 42 refugees from Papua who were given asylum in Australia last month, provoking that torrent of protest from Indonesia.

Louise Dodson, Mark Forbes in Jakarta and Craig Skehan – The Immigration Department may be forced to consider Australia's interest, not just humanitarian concerns, when deciding who is allowed asylum.

Tom Allard – In the sad, bloody history of Papua, there have been fleeting moments of optimism, the last of which, dubbed the Papuan Spring, occurred in 2000.

Ferra Kambu remembers it well. A devout Christian and health worker, she joined the separatist movement under the leadership of Theys Eluay, a tribal chief.

Canberra – Indonesia's respect for human rights in its Papua province has improved and Australia shouldn't encourage the region's independence, the Australian prime minister said, despite his country's acceptance of refugees from the province.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – Papua's first directly elected governor has warned Indonesia must deliver "justice, equality and prosperity" or face the prospect of more violence and an exodus of asylum seekers.

The search continues for a boatload of Papuan asylum seekers thought to have mistakenly landed on an island in Papua New Guinea in their quest to get to Australia.

Reports emerged this week that six asylum seekers from the Indonesian province had landed on an island in Australia's north.

Michelle Grattan, Canberra and Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – John Howard says most Australians do not want West Papuans seeking refuge here.

Mark Baker – It is now evident the chorus of cheers that greeted the Immigration Department's prompt and uncharacteristic decision to grant temporary residence to 42 West Papuan asylum seekers was premature.

Andra Jackson – Exiled West Papuan independence leader Jacob Rumbiak is well placed to challenge the credibility of Indonesian assurances that 43 West Papuan refugees could have been safely returned to Indonesian-controlled West Papua.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono says that he has the names of six to seven non-government organisations (NGO) that are manipulating the Papua issue. Sudarsono is asking the NGOs to be transparent about their funding sources. If not, they will be audited.

Responding to comments made today by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, the Free West Papua Campaign strongly criticised any plans to interfere with the process by which visas are granted to Papuan asylum seekers.

Abdul Khalik and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Indonesia may end up breaking its own laws if it keeps trying to secure the return of 42 Papuan asylum seekers recently granted temporary visas in Australia, an official says.

Parliamentarians, union leaders and academics have been included on an Indonesian government list of prominent Australians supporting Papuan separatism.

The list also contains the names of a swathe of activist groups.

It was prepared by a group of senior Indonesian MPs with input from the country's intelligence agency, known as the Badan Intelejen Negara, or BIN.

Indonesian importers have called for a boycott of Australian goods as anger grows over Canberra's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 Papuan separatists who arrived in Cape York in January.

Michael Davis – The leader of a group of Papuan refugees granted interim asylum in Australia fears a genocide similar to East Timor if the international community does not intervene to break the rule of the Indonesian military.

Canberra – Prime Minister John Howard assured Indonesia Sunday that he does not support the separatist movement in Papua after an Australian newspaper crudely lampooned the Indonesian president over the restive province.

Jane Bunce – An Australian Anglican minister says at least 10 people have disappeared in military reprisals since a violent demonstration in Papua.

Jakarta – Indonesia has described as "tasteless" a caricature in an Australian newspaper depicting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a dog.

The publication of the cartoon in the Australian daily followed a similar drawing in an Indonesian daily portraying Prime Minister John Howard and his Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as copulating dingoes.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A recent graduate of Cendrawasih University in Papua was shot Tuesday evening by two unidentified assailants, in the latest incident following a bloody clash March 16 near the university that left five security officers dead.

Lloyd Jones, East Awin, Papua New Guinea – At the age of five, Donatus Kaenop was carried through the jungle and across the border into Papua New Guinea by his refugee parents escaping violence and persecution in the Indonesian province of Papua.

One of Indonesia's biggest-selling newspapers has depicted John Howard and Alexander Downer as a pair of sex-crazed dingoes, dragging media outrage over the Papua visa row down to a new low.

Kerryn Williams – After police attacked a protest outside the Cendrawasih University in the West Papuan capital Jayapura on March 16, several police officers and an Indonesian military intelligence officer were killed. Many students and other citizens, including a five-year-old child, were injured in the conflict and more than 70 people were arrested.

Sarah Stephen – On March 23, the immigration department announced that 42 of the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers who arrived in Australia on January 18 and have been held on Christmas Island since then, had been granted refugee status. They will be issued with three-year temporary protection visas.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Fears that Canberra is stoking support for Papua to break away from Indonesia sparked Jakarta's strong reaction last week to Australia granting visas to Papuan asylum-seekers, analysts said.

Greg Roberts, Kiunga, Papua New Guinea – Muslim extremists from The Philippines and elsewhere are claimed to be setting up bases in Papua with the blessing of elements of the Indonesian military.

Papua New Guinean Catholic bishop Giles Cote said the extremists were entering Papua to fight supporters of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).

Canberra – Australia tried to soothe ties with Indonesia on Monday after granting asylum to 42 boat people from the country's troubled Papua province and as media reported more Papuans were heading to Australia.

Harold Crouch – Indonesians have reacted with outrage at the Australian decision to grant temporary protection visas to 42 of the 43 Papuans who reached Cape York in an outrigger canoe two months ago.

Damian Kingsbury – Australia's decision to grant 42 West Papuan asylum seekers temporary protection has put the relationship with Indonesia under its most serious strain since the East Timor debacle of 1999. It has also highlighted contradictions in Australia's policy towards Indonesia.

Andra Jackson – An anglican minister from Victoria witnessed a confrontation in West Papua between protesters and Indonesian police, who fired rifles and tear gas into the air before charging into a demonstration that turned into a deadly riot.

Tom Hyland – It's unlikely that Alexander Downer believes what he says about the new row that has erupted between Australia and Indonesia over 42 Papuan asylum seekers.

Despite Indonesian protests over Australia's decision to grant protection visas to the Papuans, Downer says "things will settle down after a short period of time".

Tony Blair MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA

26 March 2006

Dear Prime Minister,

Your visit to Indonesia: Concerns about West Papua

Carmel Egan – Relying on nothing more than the word of a good friend and their faith in God, the West Papuan 43 turned their dugout canoe south and made for Australia. It was January 13 and the five families of 37 adults and six children were heading, literally and politically, into a storm.

Jakarta – Although disillusioned and even threatened with losing its relevance, the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) remains the best available channel to address grievances in the province and thus must be engaged more actively in dialog with the government, a report from an international analysis group said.

Sydney – The Australian government must take the issue of Papua's right to self-determination to the United Nations, the Greens say.

Greens Senator Bob Brown accused the Howard government of hypocrisy over the issue, and called on Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to stand by Australia's international human rights obligations.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Indonesian security forces continued to hunt for students in hiding in Papua's jungles yesterday.

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Hiding in a tattered hut in West Papua's dense jungle and existing on food brought by sympathetic villagers, university student Everistus Kayep is confused by the maelstrom that has engulfed his life.

Two weeks ago he was studying maths and management at Cendrawasih University, on the outskirts of West Papua's provincial capital of Jayapura.

Greg Sheridan – Is there another boat on the way? This is the question now in Australia-Indonesia relations after the granting of temporary protection visas to 42 West Papuans. The West Papuans came here by boat and claimed they were being persecuted in the troublesome province of Indonesia. This is a big, big, big story.

Jakarta – The Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) has responded angrily to a government official's allegation that churches have been used as a medium to spread anti-government propaganda by Papua separatists.

Jakarta – Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Australia amid a furore over Canberra's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 asylum seekers from restive Papua province.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said its envoy would be called back to Jakarta for "consultations" with foreign ministry officials over the matter.

Jayapura – Papuan community leaders, smarting at the refusal of a minister to meet with them last week, have accused the central government of arrogance and an "unwillingness" to address problems affecting their province.

Jakarta – Indonesia's government Thursday threatened legal action against US mining giant Freeport unless the company improved the environmental record of its massive gold mine in Papua province.

Rob Taylor and Heru Rahadi, Jakarta – Australia's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 Papuan asylum seekers is an "unfriendly" act and Indonesia must protest, a senior Indonesian MP said today.

John McBeth, Jakarta – The pretext may have been demands for the closure of Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg copper and gold mine, 500 kilometers away across Papua's rugged central highlands.

The Uniting Church in Australia has called for dialogue and calm in the Indonesian province of Papua, in the wake of a violent demonstration which left four Indonesian security personnel dead.

We strongly condemn the statement by Syamsir Siregar, the head of BIN (Badan Inteligen Negara - State Intelligence Bureau) and the Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono, alleging that local NGOs with the support of international NGOs were behind the riots in Abepura.

Peter Cave – Up to 1,200 students are reported to be hiding in the hills around Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia's Papua province, fearful of revenge attacks by members of the Indonesian Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob).

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta – The accusations by Syamsir Siregar, the head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), that local West Papuan non-government organisations (NGOs) in Papua sponsored the Abepura incident are intended to discredit NGOs in Papua as a whole.

Rob Taylor, Jakarta – Indonesia's defence minister wants to blacklist Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle from travelling to Papua, saying her presence could stir more violence in the restive province.

Jakarta – Indonesia's Papua remained tense with hundreds of students hiding in the jungle to evade a police manhunt, reports said, as the death toll from riots over a US-run mine rose to six.