Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has told media he is prepared to meet West Papuan pro-independence groups to discuss problems in Papua.

Viva News reports that President Widodo, known as Jokowi, indicated he was willing to meet anyone to discuss important issues in his country.

The Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Richard Di Natale, today applauded the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Charlot Salwai, for raising human rights abuses in West Papua before the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Senator Di Natale commended Salwai for speaking up on the ongoing abuse, which has seen dozens of lives lost in the past few weeks alone.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo says that he doesn't have any problems will a proposal that he meet with pro-referendum Papuan figures, including those in the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) and the West Papua National Committee (KNPB).

Jakarta – Papua Governor Lukas Enembe has apologized for deadly riots that rocked Wamena, the seat of Jayawijaya regency in Papua, which paralyzed parts of the city and left more than 30 people dead, with thousands fleeing their homes in fear.

Benny Mawel and Ivany Atina Arbi, Jayapura – As thousands of non-native residents are trying to flee from Wamena in Papua's Jayawijaya regency following deadly rioting, some heartwarming stories have emerged about native residents of the province protecting non-native residents during the chaos.

Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Bogor, West Java – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has blamed a local armed group for the deadly riots in Wamena, Papua, last week, which killed at least 33 people, ordering authorities to hunt down those responsible for the unrest.

Vanuatu's prime minister has again pressed the United Nations General Assembly over human rights abuses in West Papua.

During his speech in New York, Charlot Salwai lamented how some Pacific territories are yet to break the shackles of colonialism.

Mr Salwai cited France's territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia, as well as Indonesian-ruled West Papua.

Antara & Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Police in Papua's Jayawijaya district have identified three suspects involved in last week's riots in Wamena, in which 32 people died and more than 60 were injured.

"The three suspects are S.E. (40), I.G. (29) and Y.E. (53)," Papua Police spokesman Senior Comr. Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said in Jayapura on Friday.

Kate Lamb in Jakarta, Marni Cordell and Ben Doherty – Witnesses to Monday's deadly riots in West Papua claim Indonesian police gunned down Papuan students in the street during the unrest, and say Wamena has since become a militarised ghost town.

Virginia Langeberg – Australia has been urged to "step up substantially on the issue of West Papua", with Vanuatu's leaders taking to the stage of the UN General Assembly to "emphatically condemn" alleged human rights violations in the region.

John Martinkus – In the town of Wamena, in the highlands of Papua, thick smoke poured from the roof of the regent's office. It had been torched by protesters, according to police, along with dozens of other buildings and cars.

Wamena, Indonesia – Thousands of scared residents in Indonesia's Papua scrambled to board military planes Friday, fleeing urban unrest after one of the region's deadliest eruptions of violence in years.

Benny Mawel, Jayapura – After the student protests that ended in unrest and killings in Wamena, Papua, on Monday, both indigenous and non-indigenous residents have started to leave the city.

The residents are fleeing the city amid rumors that there will be a huge military deployment to prevent further turbulence in the area.

Jakarta – Journalist, filmmaker and founder of the production house Watchdoc, Dandhy Dwi Laksono, was arrested by police on charges of violating Article 28 Paragraph (2) of the Electronic Transaction and Information (ITE) Law on the night of Thursday September 26. The charges relate to tweets he posted on Twitter on September 23 about violence in Papua.

Arya Dipa, Jakarta – Activist and documentary filmmaker Dandhy Dwi Laksono has been accused by the Jakarta Police for spreading hate speech after he posted about clashes in Jayapura and Wamena, Papua, on his Twitter account.

Jakarta – Thousands of residents living in Wamena, Papua are seeking to leave the restive city following violent unrest earlier this week that left at least 32 people dead.

Stanley Widianto, Jakarta – An Indonesian journalist and documentary filmmaker, Dandhy Laksono, was detained by police on Thursday night amid a crackdown on activists sympathetic to self-determination for the country's easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Dandhy Dwi Laksono, a journalist filmmaker for WatchDoc, was arrested on September 26 and charged under Indonesia's controversial Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE Law) for a series of Twitter posts about the ongoing protests in Papua.

There's been more deadly violence in West Papua with two motorcycle taxi drivers reportedly shot dead in Puncak regency.

The Antara news agency reported that the deaths in Ilaga sub-district have been blamed by Indonesian authorities on "armed rebels".

Journalist organisations in Indonesia have condemned alleged discrimination towards their colleagues by police in West Papua.

Three leading journalists in Papua were prevented from covering a protest by university students in Jayapura on Monday.

Eka Kurniawan, Jakarta, Indonesia – In an ideal Indonesia, a Papuan man would live in Jakarta and become a civil servant. He would marry a Padang woman from western Indonesia. They would open a small restaurant and hire a young Sundanese woman. Their customers would be a mix of Javanese, Betawi and other ethnic groups.

Australia's government has urged restraint by all relevant parties in West Papua amid ongoing unrest in the Indonesian ruled region.

The death toll from violence in the Papuan cities of Jayapura and Wamena on Monday hasrisen to 26. Violence erupted in both cities as Indonesian security forces cracked down on student protests.

Jakarta – Parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia today called for calm and an immediate cessation of violence from all sides following reports of clashes between protesters and security forces in at least two locations across Papua.Efforts over recent weeks of the Indonesian authorities to address the grievances and unrest have failed to quell tensions, and in some cases, may

Dewi Nurita, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Politics, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto refused to establish a formal meeting with the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). He opined such a meeting might be seen as the government's recognition for the group.

Bytamara Soukotta – Amid the loud yells celebrating freedom during the Indonesian Independence Day celebration last month, West Papuan students in Surabaya were attacked in their own residences by civilian groups as well as uniformed military. Apart from suffering physical wounds, the West Papuan students also endured verbal harassment, including being called "monkeys."

James Massola and Karuni Rompies, Jakarta – Deadly violence has shaken the Indonesian province of Papua once more, with reports of people being burnt alive and stabbed to death amid fierce protests.

Robert Isidorus, Jakarta – At least a thousand residents of Wamena in Papua's Jayawijaya district have requested evacuation to the provincial capital, Jayapura, following Monday's riots that claimed the lives of 26 people, an official said on Wednesday.

Twenty-nineteen is becoming the worst year in nearly six decades of illegal Indonesian occupation. Massacres and violence are being carried out as a direct result of the additional 16,000 Indonesian troops deployed since August. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights must visit West Papua now, and the Pacific Islands Forum must help secure this.

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. There were friends to visit and people to meet to understand the current circumstances.

Papuan churches want Indonesia to withdraw troops as violence escalates in the disputed territory.

And they want the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to urgently visit and see the human rights abuse in Papua – mainly by security forces and the military-backed armed civilian militia.

Marni Cordell and Kate Lamb – Graphic photos of the bloodied victims of what appear to be gunshot wounds have emerged after another day of violence in West Papua, which has seen at least 26 people killed and 70 injured.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Calm has returned to Jayapura and Wamena in Papua on Tuesday even though the death toll from yesterday's riots had risen to 26, with more than 90 people injured, officials said.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said 733 students are still being detained at the Papua Police headquarters in Jayapura.

Ahmad Faiz Ibnu Sani, Jakarta – Dozens of Papua and West Papua Legislative Council (DPRD) members met with presidential chief of staff Moeldoko in discussing the current situation and aspirations from the people of Papua.

Maybrat DPRD member Ferdinando Solossa requested the central government to hold meetings with figures of separatist groups.

More than two dozen people have died in riots in Papua, authorities said Tuesday, sparking calls for an investigation into one of the bloodiest eruptions of violence to hit the restive Indonesian territory in years.

At least 20 people have been killed in a fresh burst of unrest in Indonesian-ruled West Papua.

Violence erupted in both the provincial capital Jayapura and the main Highlands town Wamena yesterday.

Indonesia's military said at least 16 people died in Wamena after Papuan high school students took to the streets in protest over a racism allegation.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Unrest that broke out in Jayapura and Wamena in Papua Province on Monday has claimed the lives of at least 20 people, while dozens more were injured, officials said.

Antara & Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – A riot broke out in Wamena, the capital of the Jayawijaya district in Papua, on Monday morning after a crowd protesting ethnic and racial discrimination against Papuan students on the island of Java started burning some government buildings in the city, including the Wamena district head office, forcing local officials to close the Wamena Airp

Benny Mawel, Jayapura – Violent unrest broke out in Wamena, the main city of Jayawijaya regency in Papua, on Monday, with some senior high school students reportedly being attacked by security officers as they dispersed a protest.

Fresh unrest broke out in Indonesia's restive Papua region Monday as protesters burned down a government office and other buildings in Wamena city, according to an AFP reporter.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – East Java Police have officially put Veronica Koman, an Indonesian human rights lawyer and outspoken supporter of Papua independence, in its wanted persons list and submitted a red notice to Interpol to help capture her overseas, a police official said on Friday.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Papuan students studying in Jakarta have urged their fellow Papuans to return to their places of study across Indonesia, claiming that the government guarantees their safety.

Nur Hadi, Jakarta – The East Java Regional Police have named Veronica Koman as a suspect for provoking and distributing false information about the riots in the Papuan student dormitory in Surabaya. Veronica has also been put on the police most wanted list (DPO) as a fugitive.

Nur Yasmin, Jakarta – Indonesia has condemned a press statement issued by five independent United Nations Human Rights Council special rapporteurs in which they expressed serious concern over recent development in Papua.

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.

Pipit Maizier, Melbourne – Dozens of people stands in solidarity with West Papuans in front of the State Library Victoria on Saturday (14/09/2019) for calling the Australian Government to against human rights violations occurred in West Papua.

Jakarta (Antara) – Papua is an inseparable part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu emphasized on Wednesday. "Papua is an important part that is inseparable from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," Ryacudu said while making his remarks in Babrongko Umandrow Village, Jayapura District, Papua.

Jakarta – A toddler and teenager were among three people killed in a gunfight between security forces and independence-seeking rebels in Indonesia's restive Papua region, the military said on Thursday (Sep 19).

By Max Lane

Executive summary

Febriana Firdaus, Jakarta – Indonesia's West Papua region has been mired in civil unrest since the middle of August, following police detentions and alleged racial slurs against ethnic Papuan students studying in the country's most populous island of Java.

Seven civilians have been injured during a shootout with rebels in West Papua, Indonesia's military says.

But a Papuan pro-independence military group claimed the civilians were shot dead by soldiers during the incident in the Central Highlands.

According to Indonesia's military, Papuan fighters attacked security forces in Puncak regency's Ilaga district on Tuesday.