Kharishar Kahfi, Jakarta – Relevant state agencies are set to collaborate to establish better forestry management in Papua in order to curb rampant illegal logging in the easternmost province, among other things.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government expects to take a controlling stake in the operator of the world's biggest copper and gold mine this month, even as sanctions it imposed for environmental violations threaten to hamstring the multibillion-dollar deal.

The Government has expressed dismay at attempts by West Papua leader Jacob Rumbiak, to interfere and meddle in the country's national affairs.

In a statement on Tuesday the Solomon Islands Democratic Coalition for Change Government (SIDCCG) said it strongly disproves the action of Mr Rumbiak.

There are reports a number of university students in Jayapura have begun to wear the traditional Papuan koteka or penis gourd to campus.

Danielle Bochove and David Stringer – Every year, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. dumps tens of millions of tons of mining waste into the Ajkwa River system in Indonesia. The company has been doing it for decades, and is demanding the right to keep at it for decades to come.

People from Papua often face discrimination and suspicion from other Indonesians – often their pride in their homeland and traditional culture is mistaken as support for the region's independence movement (which the government is clamping down on, even in its most peaceful forms).

Joe Cochrane, Jakarta, Indonesia – Yanto Awerkion knew quite well that he would infuriate the local Indonesian authorities for organizing a meeting to discuss a petition for an independence referendum in the strife-torn Papua region – but he did it anyway.

Jayapura – United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) spokesperson Jacob Rumbiak has described the recent seven-person delegation from Solomon Islands to West Papua as 'a visitation by robbers'.

A human rights advocate says it may be possible that armed Papuan groups could be implicated in Indonesia's new anti-terror laws.

Indonesia's parliament last week passed tough new anti-terrorism measures following this month's suicide bombings in Surabaya. The laws allow police to detain suspects for longer and prosecute those linked to militant groups.

A human rights advocate says it may be possible that armed Papuan groups could be implicated under Indonesia's new anti-terror laws.

Indonesia's parliament last week passed tough new anti-terrorism measures following this month's suicide bombings in Surabaya.

Multi-national mining giant Rio Tinto says it plans to sell its interest in the lucrative Grasberg mine in Indonesia's Papua province for $US3.5 billion.

The Grasberg mine, which is the world's largest gold and second-largest copper mine, is majority owned by United States-based miner Freeport-McMoRan.

Bernadette Christina Munthe, Fergus Jensen, Jakarta – A state audit of operations at Indonesia's Grasberg mine has cast a cloud over the government's multi-billion-dollar deal to take a majority stake in the mine from Freeport McMoRan Inc and its partner Rio Tinto, according to government and company officials.

The Solomon Islands government says its official position on West Papua won't be made until after provincial consultations.

Consultations follow the submission of a report to government by a Solomons delegation which visited Indonesia last month.

A leading foreign affairs official from the Solomon Islands government says it's now seeing a balanced picture on Indonesia's Papua region.

Abeth You, Jayapura, Jubi – Papuan Voices will promote indigenous Papuans through Papua Film Festival II (FFP II) which is running in Jayapura City on 7-9 August 2018.

Papuan Voices established in 2011 and now has stations in six regions of Papua, namely Biak, Jayapura, Keerom, Wamena, Merauke, Sorong and Raja Ampat.

John Mcbeth, Jakarta – Protracted contract negotiations between the Indonesian government and US-owned mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold over the fate of one of the world's most profitable mines just got a lot more difficult.

There should have been more transparency around a government-led delegation's visit to West Papua last month, a leader of Solomon Islands civil society says

The Solomon Star reports Development Service Exchange (DSE) spokesperson Jennifer Wate made the comment while rejecting any involvement in the trip.

Bambang Muryanto – A Dutch freelance journalist, Rohan (a pen name), had been interested in the political turmoil in Papua for years. In 2015, his application for a journalistic visa was denied. The 32-year-old then decided to embark on an undercover reporting assignment in the country's easternmost province.

A Solomon Islands civil society worker says a delegation from his country which visited Indonesia sought a balanced view on West Papua human rights issues.

Wilfred Luiramo was one of several civil society people selected by the government to visit Indonesia, including West Papua and Papua provinces, last week.

The SI delegation that traveled to West Papua arriving into Sentani Airport in Indonesia's Papua province on 24 April 2018.

Development Service Exchange (DSE) has rejected claims that it is "officially represented" in a government delegation that visited West Papua last week.

Once again West Papuan independence activists have been arrested and brutalized to prevent them meeting international delegates to Indonesia's Melanesian colony; this time a delegation from the Solomon Islands visiting Jayapura and Manokwari on 24-25 April 2018, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) reports.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Evi Mariani, Jayapura/Jakarta – A car belonging to mining company PT Freeport Indonesia employee Moren Francis Ras was shot up by an unidentified shooter at his house in the Hidden Valley housing complex at Mile 66 in Tembagapura, Mimika, in Papua on Friday morning, the police report.

A programme called 'Bright Indonesia' has been launched by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to increase the electrification rate in the country's eastern provinces.

Antara News reported that through the programme, Indonesia aimed to boost its electrification rate to 97 per cent of the country's total population by 2019.

James Massola & Karuni Rompies, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has hit back at suggestions that tough new environmental regulations imposed on the giant Grasberg copper mine are politically motivated, or related to the partial-nationalisation of the mine.

Facebook has censored a West Papuan image by a Vanuatu-based photojournalist for the second time in less than four days – this time "within one minute" after the photograph was posted.

Johnny Blades – Nine West Papuans were arrested by Indonesian police in Jayapua today for a small protest over a visit by a Solomon Islands delegation.

The government-led delegation travelled to Papua's provincial capital at the invitation of Indonesia's government, but the way it slipped into Papua province largely under the radar has raised questions.

Andreas Harsono – A Christian group in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, recently issued a stark 14-day ultimatum to municipal authorities: Dismantle the minaret of the city's Al-Aqsa mosque by the end of February or the group would "take their own action."

Jakarta – Vote distortions may occur in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections in Papua if the noken system is used, an official from the General Elections Commission (KPU) has said.

Aprila Wayar this month published her third novel, "Sentuh Papua", which covered human rights issues and the effects of Indonesian transmigration in Papua.

Transmigration refers to movement of landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populous parts of the country.

Abeth You, Paniai, Jubi – Students from Kampung Waa, Tembagapura Sub-district, who are currently studying in Australia request the Indonesian Military and Police officers to release the arrested villagers. They argued that those people are civilians and have no connection with the separatist movement.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Supporters of regent and deputy regent candidates in Central Mamberamo regency have allegedly protested violently over a Constitutional Court (MK) ruling that an independent pair is not eligible to participate in the upcoming regional elections.

A group of people set fire to the residence of the head of Pegunungan Bintang regency in a riot in Indonesia's Papua province yesterday.

The crowd involved in the riot in Oksibil town also blockaded the local airport in the remote regency abutting the border with Papua New Guinea.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – Hundreds of female vendors at the Mama-mama Market in Jayapura, Papua, shouted hysterically when President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and First Lady Iriana entered the market at 6:15 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

Friski Riana, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) told the people of Papua to maintain the peace and unity in the region, especially heading towards the regional head elections (Pilkada).

"Don't let any rifts spark between us all during the democratic process (Pilkada)," he said Wednesday, April 11.

A West Papuan group says it wants the money it collected for a public donation to Papua New Guinea earthquake victims returned by Indonesian police.

West Papua Solidarity for Earthquake Disaster in Papua New Guinea said 16 of its group were arrested over two days last week in Jayapura.

Indonesian police have denied claims that they arrested a group of people in Papua province for a public action to collect funds for victims of Papua New Guinea's recent earthquake.

A Papuan group was taken in by Indonesian police on 7 April 2018 after holding a public collection for donations to a relief fund for earthquake victims in neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

Denpasar – The Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) has again spoken out against the PT Freeport Indonesia gold-and-copper mine in West Papua.

Yesterday afternoon they went to the US Consulate General on Jl. Hayam Wuruk in the Balinese provincial capital of Denpasar where AMP Bali spokesperson Gilo said that Freeport's presence has been a disaster for West Papua.

Helen Davidson – Indonesian authorities have released most of the large group of students and activists arrested on Wednesday at a West Papua university.

Gunfire exchanges between Indonesian military forces and West Papuan guerillas in Mimika regency have left three people dead since Sunday.

The death of a soldier with the Indonesian army, or TNI, prompted renewed fighting in the mountainous area around the Freeport mine in Papua province.

Jakarta – The recent clash between Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel and a local armed group at the Sinai Opitawak Church in Tembagapura, Papua, has forced hundreds of villagers into hiding in nearby forests. One person was killed while three parishioners were injured in the violence.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura, Papua – At least eight residents of Keerom and Lanny Jaya regencies in Papua died of consuming unlicensed alcohol (oplosan) in the past week.

A leading West Papuan pro-independence organisation suspects the arrests of dozens of its supporters by Indonesian police was a diversion tactic.

Yesterday, police raided the office of the West Papua National Committee, or KNPB, in Waena, a sub-district of Jayapura, the capital of Indonesian-ruled Papua province.

Jerome Wirawan – The case of the alleged abduction of 1,300 people in Mimika, West Papua last year is apparently not over yet. This week, as many as three people were shot dead by the TNI (Indonesian military) in an incident that the TNI claims was a shootout with an armed group.

The problem is that one of those killed is believed to be a civilian.

Jayapura – Five activists from the Independent Student Forum (FIM) who were involved in a solidarity action to collect to funds for victims of an earthquake in Papua New Guinea were reportedly arrested by police in Jayapura on Thursday April 5.

Evi Mariani, Sita Dewi and Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta/Jayapura – The Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM), which is linked to the Free Papua independence movement, said on Wednesday morning over 1,000 civilian lives were at risk amid Indonesian Military (TNI) and liberation group armed conflicts in Tembagapura district, Mimika regency, Papua, near copper mine Freeport.

A member of the pro-independence West Papua National Committee has been freed from prison having completed his jail term. Yanto Awerkion was given a ten-month sentence for treason by an Indonesian court.

Mr Awerkion was arrested in May 2017 in Timika because of his involvement with a petition calling for West Papuan independence from Indonesia.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Evi Mariani, Jayapura/Jakarta – A clash between the Indonesian Military (TNI) in cooperation with the National Police and the Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM), a Papuan independence group, resulted in at least one fatality in Tembagapura district, Mimika regency in Papua on Wednesday, near the copper mine operated by Freeport.

Prima Gumilang, Jakarta – As many as 44 members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) and several other organisations were arrested on Wednesday April 4 and are now being detained at the Jayapura municipal police headquarters (Mapolres).

They were arrested for allegedly planning to hold a West Papua independence declaration on Thursday March 5.

Helen Davidson – Dozens of students and activists have been detained by Indonesian security forces at a West Papua university. It comes amid fatal shootouts in the region and the release of a high-profile activist from prison.

Niniek Karmini and Stephen Wright, Jakarta, Indonesia – A commander of rebels in Indonesia's easternmost Papua region said Tuesday that as many as 100 villagers have taken shelter with them in a mountainous jungle following an Indonesian military attack.