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The Jakarta Post


The Jakarta Post, July 10, 2007

Separatism needs a thoughtful approach

Rizal Sukma, Jakarta

It seems the problem of separatism in Indonesia will not go away easily. After the success of resolving the Aceh separatist problem, the problem has begun to once again resurface in eastern Indonesia, where within a week two separatism-related incidents took place.

First, a group of people, during the 14th National Family Day event in Ambon, Maluku, entered the ceremony area, performed a traditional dance called the cakalele and waved flags of the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS).

The problem is, the dance was not on the agenda and the incident took place right in front of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Second, scores of Papuan people waved the Bintang Kejora flag, which symbolizes the demand for independence of the province, while performing a dance at the Papuan Customary Council congress. A group of Papuan students also waved the Bintang Kejora flag during a demonstration in Yogyakarta.

No one denies that Indonesia has been facing the challenges of separatism since it became an independent nation in 1945. In the past, it has managed to put down some of the rebellions. Recently, the Indonesian government even managed to resolve the Aceh separatist movement in a civilized way. However, these latest incidents in Ambon and Papua demonstrate the persistence of the problem.

It is true that the magnitude of the problem, especially in Maluku, does not yet pose a security threat to the public or the nation. However, the problem does not lie in the ability of separatist groups to disturb security or launch a military offensive against government troops. The problem lies in the presence of non-violent aspirations for independence.

In today's world, non-violent aspirations for independence can be far more lethal than an armed rebellion. This kind of separatist movement will always try to attract international attention and then international support. Once the problem becomes part of the global media agenda, it will be hard to remove it from the pages of international media. And more international attention is guaranteed if the state responds to the problem by resorting to the use of military force.

Therefore, it is important for the government not to fall into that trap.

First, it is important not to lose focus in responding to the problem. It is very likely the flag-waving incidents, especially in the case of the RMS, were meant to embarrass and anger the security apparatus, and ultimately the government.

Second, in a confused and angry situation, it would be easy for government officials to lose their temper and respond to the incidents inappropriately.

Third, if this happens, the problem of the RMS, no matter how small it is right now, would soon become an international issue.

Unfortunately, worrying signs have begun to emerge. Government officials, especially within the security establishment, have begun a blame game.

The Indonesian Military commander, for example, blamed the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) for what happened in Ambon. BIN, in response, denied it was careless in failing to anticipate the incident. The police have also been accused of incompetence. Military and police chiefs in the province have stated they were prepared to resign over the incident.

Responsibility and the ability to anticipate are two key qualities that should be possessed by the security apparatus. In this case, there is no need to blame anyone for the rise of separatist aspirations in Maluku.

The investigation into the incident should focus on the need to review security procedures in order to uncover security lapses. The intrusion of unwanted people into an event where the President was present is a serious security breach. For this, those responsible for security at the event need to be investigated and, if necessary, reprimanded.

However, the problem of separatism is a much larger issue. It is the obligation of the government as a whole to reflect and ask itself why some people in Maluku continue to resent the Republic of Indonesia and seek an independent South Maluku Republic.

The same goes for the persistence of independence aspirations in Papua.

The challenge for the central government here is not how to eradicate the aspiration completely. Because, no matter what the government does, there will always be some people who harbor aspirations for independence. This is also the case in Aceh. The challenge is how to make those aspirations unattractive in the eyes of the general public, so the aspirations will never become an armed insurgency with mass support.

In this regard, it is absolutely necessary that the government, especially the security apparatus, responds to this problem with a degree of maturity. The use of repression should be overruled because it would certainly attract international attention, and help the movements grow.

Aceh gave us ample lessons on this. Violence will certainly breed more violence.

Preventing secessionist aspirations requires conditions where every one feel he or she is part of the Indonesian nation. That requires equality before the law for every citizen, the absence of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender and religion, and the attainment of social justice.

If these things are difficult to achieve in a short period of time, the government should at least be able to show it is working hard to achieve them.

The writer is deputy executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

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