Tasha Wibawa – Indonesian police say they have regained control of West Papua after sending close to 1,000 extra officers to the restive province.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Papua and West Papua in the past few days, torching tyres and government buildings as well as damaging an airport in Indonesia's easternmost provinces.

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 celebration (an allegation the students deny).

Yeremia Sukoyo & Faraouk Arnaz, Jakarta – The government has blocked internet access and deployed large numbers of security personnel in Papua to contain island-wide unrest, as protests over racist slurs allegedly directed at Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, last week ran into a third day on Wednesday.

Jakarta – The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called once again for the United Nations to visit Papua and West Papua following the racial abuse that sparked widespread protests in the country's easternmost regions.

Johnny Blades – Protests are spreading in Indonesia-ruled West Papua in response to harassment of Papuans during explosive incidents in Javanese cities last week.

Indonesia's president has urged calm after some of the protests turned violent, but he's been criticised for not directly addressing a festering racism problem.

Indonesia's Papua was hit by fresh unrest Wednesday as more than 1,000 security personnel were sent to the restive region after violent protests that saw buildings torched and street battles between police and demonstrators.

Guruh Permadi, Jakarta – The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Yati Andriyani, believes that the statement by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on the riots in Papua was totally inadequate.

Nedi Putra AW, Jakarta and Malang, East Java – Regional leaders and authorities have scrambled to diffuse tensions stemming from the recent racial abuse against Papuan students, which has triggered widespread protests in Papua and West Papua.

Jakarta (Antara) – The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher on Papuan studies, Rosita Dewi, assessed the non-completion of several cases regarding human rights violations in Papua resulted in the resolution failure of conflicts related to the region.

Muhammad Irfan, Jakarta – Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Coordinator Yati Andriani is calling on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to learn from Indonesia's fourth president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in how to deal with the problems in Papua, including the flying of the symbolic Morning Star flag.

Jakarta – East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parwansa has apologized on behalf of the people of his province after racial abuse of Papuan students in Surabaya triggered widespread protests in cities across Indonesia's easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Jakarta – At least 258 inmates detained in Sorong Penitentiary in West Papua have escaped their prison cells after the building caught on fire during protests in the city that were in response to racist abuse being hurled at Papuan students on Java.

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is set to visit Papua and West Papua following rioting that broke out in the provinces' capitals on Monday. The demonstrators protested racial abuse against Papuan students in East Java during the commemoration of Indonesia's Independence Day over the weekend.

Helen Davidson and Ben Doherty – The Indonesian president has called for calm after days of violent protests against and by ethnic West Papuans.

President Joko Widodo urged people to forgive each other "as fellow countrymen" instead of getting angry, while pledging to look after the "honour and welfare of all people in Papua and West Papua".

Jakarta – The National Police have called on the public to refrain from sharing unverified information about the riots in Papua, as authorities track down social media accounts suspected of sowing discord.

Following yesterday's events in West Papua Province, during which the local parliament building and a penitentiary were burned down and homes were destroyed, Usman Hamid, Amnesty International Indonesia's Executive Director said:

Makassar – Students living at the Papuan dormitory in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar clashed with a group of people from an ormas (social or mass organisations) this evening, Monday August 19.

Agustinus Beo Da Costa, Tabita Diela, Jakarta – Indonesia's police chief said on Monday that authorities in the easternmost Papua region were regaining control after protesters set fire to tyres and torched a local parliament building over the recent detention of scores of Papuan students.

Telly NathaliaJakarta – Alleged racism and police brutality against Papuan students in East Java on Saturday triggered violent protests in cities in Indonesia's two easternmost provinces on Monday.

Ben Doherty and agencies – Protestors in the West Papuan provincial capital of Manokwari have set fire to the local parliament building after a demonstration against the arrest and detention of scores of Papuan students.

Tasha Wibawa – Indonesian police have defended their decision to storm into a dormitory of West Papuan students alongside the nation's military, over vigilante allegations that someone had committed slander on the national symbol.

Johnny Blades – Large public demonstrations are underway in cities in West Papua after the reported harassment of Papuans in Indonesia over recent days.

Papua's provincial governor has also spoken out after dozens of Papuan university students were set upon by a mob and later arrested in Surabaya, as well as incidents in other Javanese cities of Semarang and Malang.

Febriana Firdaus, Jakarta, Indonesia – Large demonstrations in Indonesia's West Papua region have turned violent as thousands of protesters, angered by alleged police abuse against ethnic Papuan students, burned public facilities and blocked roads.

Nurhadi, Jakarta – Indonesian National Police (Polri) Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian expressed anguish over the riots that broke out in Manokwari, West Papua.

He maintained again that the unfortunate widespread incidents were caused by misinformation and misunderstanding of recent incidents involving Papuan students in Malang and Surabaya, East Java.

Kukuh S. Wibowo, Jakarta – Public defender of the Surabaya Legal Aid (LBH), Sahura, said that the situation around the Papuan students' dormitory at Kalasan Street in Surabaya is gradually turning conducive after 43 college students from Papua on Friday were involved in a clash with local groups of people over a flag incident.

Medan/Bandung/Jakarta – Scores of student from Papua studying in the North Sumatra city of Medan have protested the persecution, intimidation and racism against fellow Papuan students in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya.

Adi Ahdiat, Jakarta – The Papua Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) says that since the beginning of Indonesian independence up until now, the country has never been free of racist practices.

Helen Davidson – Indonesian authorities raided a university dormitory in Surabaya on Saturday and arrested dozens of West Papuan students after a standoff over allegations the Indonesian flag was thrown into a sewer.

Hengky Yeimo, Jayapura – Scores of Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) members in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held a spontaneous action in front of the Yogyakarta regional police headquarters on Friday August 16.

Ghinan Salman, Surabaya – As many as 43 Papuan students were taken to the district police headquarters after police fired teargas and forced their way into a Papua student dormitory in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya on Saturday August 17.

An Indonesian lawyer says more than 150 West Papuan independence activists were arrested on Thursday.

Veronica Koman says 65 remain detained in Jayapura after rallying for the support of their cause being raised at this week's Pacific Islands Forum summit. Demonstrations also took place in several other cities.

Nic Maclellan in Funafuti, Tuvalu – Members of the Pacific Islands Forum have urged Indonesia to take action on human rights violations in West Papua, and strongly encouraged Jakarta to facilitate a long-mooted visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.

David Sobolim, Jayapura – Papuan students from the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) and the Semarang and Salatiga Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) Committees held a joint protest action in the Central Java city of Salatiga in Thursday August 15.

Jakarta – The Papuan student dormitory in the Kalasan area of the East Java city of Surabaya was besieged by hundreds of people from various ormas (mass or social organisations) on the afternoon of Friday August 16.

Leaders of Pacific Islands Forum countries and territories want Indonesia to allow a team from the UN Human Rights Commissioner's office to visit West Papua soon.

At their annual summit in Tuvalu, Pacific leaders acknowledged the reported escalation in violence and continued alleged human rights abuses in Papua.

Kate Lyons in Funafuti and Ben Doherty – The United Nations high commissioner for human rights should investigate the deteriorating human rights situation in West Papua within a year, Pacific nations have resolved, as independence protests in the province were quashed by police with widespread arrests and one leader described it as the "festering human rights sore of the region".

Darmadi Sasongko – A protest action on Thursday August 15 by the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) in the East Java city of Malang has ended in a riot with protesters and a rival group pelted each other with stones near the Rajabali intersection on Jl Kahuripan.

Yudha Baskoro – Papuan activists marched in Central Jakarta on Thursday to mark the 56th commemoration of the United Nations-brokered New York Agreement, which saw control over the western portion of the island of New Guinea transferred from the Netherlands to Indonesia.

An Indonesian lawyer says police have arrested dozens of West Papuan independence activists in Jayapura.

Demonstrators took to the streets in several Papuan cities on Thursday in support of their cause being raised at this week's Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit.

Adi Ahdiat, Jakarta – The Nduga Regency Humanitarian Team has again called on the government to withdraw Indonesian military (TNI) and police from Nduga regency in Papua because the military operations being conducted there are terrifying local people.

Indonesia has complained to the Pacific Islands Forum secretariat over West Papuan leader Benny Wenda's participation at this year's Forum summit.

Leaders of Forum member states are meeting in Tuvalu this week, with Vanuatu's government including West Papuan representatives in its delegation.

Maire Leadbeater – The Pacific Islands Forum holds its annual meeting this week. Usually the leaders manage to avoid mention of the desperate human rights crisis in Indonesian-controlled West Papua in their communique, or to dismiss the issue in a formula of words so insipid it has negligible impact.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – The police have confirmed the death of a police investigator in Papua after he was taken hostage by an armed group on Monday.

A police spokesman said on Tuesday that First Brigadier Hedar was kidnapped by an armed criminal group called Lekagak Telenggen and then killed not long after.

A Polish man jailed for treason in West Papua is to appeal his conviction and sentence in Indonesia's Supreme Court.

Jakub Skrzypski was in May jailed for five years after a judge in the Wamena District court ruled he had plotted to sell arms to the West Papua Liberation Army.

Ben Doherty – Human rights violations and political independence in West Papua are set to command debate at this week's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), where Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda will urge government leaders to support the "Free Papua" campaign amid recent escalating political violence.

Hipolitus Yolisandry Ringgi Wangge – After eight months of the armed conflict between Indonesian security forces and West Papuan pro-independence fighters in Papua's central highlands, there's no end in sight to the struggles of the indigenous communities displaced by the fighting.

Timika, Papua – The Indonesian military (TNI) and Papua police will take necessary precautionary measures against security disturbances in the PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) mining area before Indonesia commemorates its 74th Independence Day anniversary on Aug 17.

Ivany Atina Arbi, Jakarta – In a bid to give foreign media access to reporting about Papua, the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) has planned to bring several foreign journalists to the province, which has been marred by violence for years.

With a full support of the government, the PWI is to show the foreign journalists that "nothing wrong is happening in Papua".

The governor of Papua New Guinea's capital district wants Indonesia to allow West Papua to undertake an independence referendum.

In a statement, Powes Parkop also backed a call from Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers to raise the issue of human rights abuses in Papua at next week's Forum leaders summit.

Jakarta – The TNI member, identified only as DAT, was arrested in Sorong, West Papua, on Aug. 4 after being named on the most-wanted list for two weeks. DAT is being detained at the Cenderawasih Military Police headquarter in Jayapura.