ASIA TIMES, January 14, 2003
Indonesia draws a line over West Papua
By Alan Boyd
SYDNEY - Indonesia may close its key border crossing into Papua New Guinea
(PNG) after renewed separatist tensions in the rebellious province of West Papua
(formerly Irian Jaya) that aid workers claim are being partly inflamed by Muslim
extremists.
Hundreds of Indonesian troops have been moved to the 800 kilometer frontier after a
series of attacks by Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) guerrillas that Jakarta says
are being launched from Papua New Guinean territory.
While the PNG government has issued its own ultimatum to the OPM, Indonesian
authorities are pressing for the closure of a border crossing near the village of Wutung
that would sever the main escape pipeline for victims of the fighting.
"Our understanding is that [closure] is Indonesia's fallback position in lieu of an
implicit undertaking by PNG to keep the OPM out. Clearly this is not a practical
proposition from either a security or political perspective," said a diplomat.
As many as 20,000 Papuans have fled to PNG from Indonesia's West Papua province
since Dutch-based academics launched the OPM independence separatist movement
in the mid-1960s.
The OPM uses the scattered shantytowns just inside PNG as recruitment bases and
for staging attacks against the nearby Indonesian army and border police garrisons.
These have limited impact: Despite a claimed strength of 65,000, the OPM has only a
few hundred committed fighters, most armed with little more than spears and knives
and with minimal training.
But the attacks do serve a more potent political purpose in attracting village support
and keeping the flagging movement alive in the eyes of the OPM's overseas
supporters.
PNG newspapers reported at the weekend that Jakarta had reacted to the latest
attacks by mobilizing an unprecedented 1,500 troops, backed by helicopter gunships
and fixed-wing spotter planes.
Foreign diplomats believe it is more likely that the permanent garrison of 150 troops
was boosted to 400-500, but nonetheless view the buildup as a sign that Indonesian
patience is running out.
It is equally apparent that attitudes are hardening toward neighboring PNG, which
publicly condemns the OPM but takes little direct action out of a reluctance to offend
its own substantial Papuan population.
Most of the border crossings are manned only by customs staff on the PNG side.
Port Moresby blames financial constraints, but is more likely to be acceding to
demands by local politicians that it allow a free flow of border crossers.
However, the rising tempo of recent incidents has raised the security barometer to a
level where more resources are likely to be committed, if only to protect PNG's
territorial integrity.
Port Moresby is particularly concerned that Indonesian land forces have crossed into
PNG on at least three instances in the last two weeks in pursuit of OPM suspects,
while helicopters have repeatedly violated PNG airspace.
Weary of PNG's reluctance to hand over OPM operatives that it believes are sheltering
in the camps, Indonesia has also apparently taken to handing out summary justice.
The wife of West Papuan human-rights leader Johannes Bonay was one of two
women injured when gunmen opened fire on a convoy of cars near the border last
week.
Several other villagers, believed to be PNG nationals, were hurt in separate shooting
attacks by an unidentified group in the Wutung area, several kilometers within PNG
territory.
Indonesia blamed all of the incidents on the OPM. However, diplomats are generally
skeptical of guerrilla involvement, noting that they lack the firepower and motivation for
targeting civilians.
"Militias were used by the TNI [Indonesian military] with considerable success in
Timor to weaken the base of civilian support for guerrillas, and yes, one would have to
say this has a similar pattern," said another diplomat. "What little we do know is that
the assailants were not wearing military insignia but were far too well organized and
equipped for a ragtag outfit like the OPM. I think we can draw our own conclusions
from that."
TNI-backed militiamen first began to appear in numbers in West Papua as part of a
concerted crackdown on dissent following the murder of nationalist leader Theys
Eluay in November 2001.
Seven members of Indonesia's army special forces went on trial last week for the
killing, which is believed to have been part of a deliberate TNI strategy to destabilize
West Papua and justify military intervention.
Aid workers believe that the tensions were partly fueled by Laskar Jihad, a notorious
Muslim extremist group with links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network
and the bombing of churches in the Maluku islands.
Laskar Jihad has reputedly been training Javanese settlers to resist the Christian
OPM, ahead of an expected new wave of resettlements from Indonesia's crowded
central provinces.
The Javanization of West Papua has been inevitable since North American and
European mining firms began uncovering the lucrative resource base that lies within
its sprawling rainforests.
Within the next five years the province is expected to become one of the biggest
producers of natural gas in Asia, as well as a significant source of gold and other
precious metals.
PNG, conscious that it will day provide a valuable supporting role, will undoubtedly do
Indonesia's bidding over the refugees issue. Since 1990 it has been quietly sending
back new arrivals, in the knowledge that many deportees face certain imprisonment
and possible execution.
For all of Port Moresby's protestations, an informal understanding has been in force
for years that the Indonesians may pursue suspected separatists across the border
as much as they please.
In effect this agreement, which is due to be reaffirmed in talks next month, delegates
authority for security on both sides of the border to Indonesian forces while PNG
keeps a careful distance.
There is speculation that Port Moresby may even bow to Jakarta's demands for a
formal extradition treaty that could be used to target individual OPM leaders who seek
sanctuary across the border.
Less direct pressure is being felt from the United States and Australia, PNG's biggest
donor nations, which are keen to protect their investments and normalize ties with the
discredited TNI.
These were downgraded after militia atrocities in Timor in 1999 but have become
imperative since the terrorist attacks in the US and the more recent Bali nightclub
bombings. Ironically, Washington and Canberra now need the TNI's support in
countering the same isolated pockets of Muslim extremism that are reportedly being
advanced by the Indonesian armed forces in Irian Jaya.
Trapped between these conflicting interests, the OPM has never enjoyed support from
foreign governments, and its standing has fallen further as terrorism takes center
stage.
In September the movement was blamed for the shooting deaths of two Americans
and an Indonesian teacher who were on a sightseeing tour from the giant US-owned
Freeport gold mine in West Papua.
Despite independent evidence that suggested Indonesian soldiers were responsible for
the attack, Jakarta blamed the OPM. Washington was not convinced, and
investigations continue.
©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
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