Papua

Budi Hernawan, Yohanes (2025) Papua. The Contemporary Pacific, 36 (2). pp. 302-310. ISSN 1527-9464; 1043-898X

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Abstract

As the November 2022 memorandum of understanding calling for a humanitarian pause fell apart (Hernawan 2023), the mosaic of Papua in 2023 remained framed by continued armed violence. The existing hot spots of armed violence remain unresolved, notably in the regencies of Maybrat, Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Pegunungan Bintang, which reaffirms the protracted nature of the armed conflict in Papua. This review analyzes power relations that deeply marked the political, social, and economic landscape of Papua as encapsulated in the burning issues: the establishment of Majelis Rakyat Papua (mrp, Papuan People's Assembly) for the new Papua provinces as a legal consequence of the new version of the Special Autonomy Law; gross human rights abuses; the internal dynamics of United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ulmwp) leadership; and the continuing survival of Indigenous Papuans against the unabated extractive industry (for a previous discussion of the extractive industry, see Hernawan 2023). Over Christmas of 2022, the Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat (tpnpb, West Papuan National Liberation Army) asserted that it occupied the regency capital of Kumurkek, but the chief of police of West Papua Province, Irjen Pol Daniel T M Silitonga, dismissed this claim, insisting that the joint forces of the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (tni, the Indonesian Military) and the police maintained full control. Further, he ordered that tpnpb members must be captured alive or dead (Antaranews 2022). The chief of police's action was supported by tni action: by the beginning of 2023, the Indonesian armed forces deployed a war tank and some four hundred additional security forces to seven villages—Faan Kahrio, Kamat, Assem, Sory, Aisa, Kisor, and Tahsimara—to ensure that the security forces gained control of these targeted areas. On 18 January, the security forces raided villages from Kamat Village in Aifat Timur Tengah District to Aisa Village in Aifat Timur District and arbitrarily arrested a number of villagers who had already returned to Aisa Village from their refuges (Human Rights Monitor 2023b). A local source illustrated the atmosphere of the daily life of the affected villages: "We feel like strangers. It's not like in the past. We are scared, cautious, insecure. A lot of things come to my mind. Wherever we go, we have to get permission [from the military] … and we feel under constant surveillance. There is no health services at all here, even before the incident. If we are sick, we have [to] go to the regency capital or to [End Page 302] Sorong. We have to pay transport by ourselves. One way normally costs idr 500.000 [about us$30] per person [to the regency capital] or idr1.5 million [about us$90] to Sorong" (pers comm, 6 March 2024). Despite these actions by the police and military, tpnpb operations did not decline but in fact steadily escalated. In a press release on 7 January, Sebby Sambom summarized tpnpb operations in Yahukimo, Intan Jaya, and Pegunungan Bintang regencies and claimed responsibility for all of their actions. In Pegunungan Bintang, tpnpb Kodap (Military Command) XXXV shot dead an intelligence agent in Esipding Village, District of Serambakon; attacked a police car in Ipukdol Village (Suara Papua 2023a); burned down a 4g telecom tower; and shot at a commercial aircraft run by Dimonim airline as it transported army and police personnel to Oksibil. The tpnpb also shot at two other cargo planes of Trigana and Ikairos airlines and set fire to Vocasional High School 1 Oksibil (Suara Papua 2023b). In the regency capital of Dekai, tpnpb Kodap XVI shot at a police intelligence officer and four military personnel, and in Intan Jaya area, the deputy commander of Kodap VIII, Apeni Kobogau, shot dead a tni soldier on 8 January. Deputy Commander Kobogau also repeatedly warned the so-called "Indonesian migrants" to leave the area because tpnpb were engaging in a "Totally Revolutionary War" (Yeimo 2023). The spike in armed violence culminated on 7 February when the tpnpb attacked and burned to the ground a Susi Air plane that had landed in Paro, Nduga Regency, and kidnapped the pilot, Philip Mark Mehrtens of New Zealand (Ridhwan and Wibowo 2023). The tpnpb spokesperson explained that the pilot was their bargaining chip...

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	J Political Science > JX International law
Divisions:	Program Pascasarjana > Program Pascasarjana Filsafat
Depositing User:	ThM .-
Date Deposited:	23 Oct 2025 10:46
Last Modified:	23 Oct 2025 10:47
URI:	http://repo.driyarkara.ac.id/id/eprint/2423

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