West Papua is one of the provinces in the eastern part of Indonesia. The eastern part of Indonesia does have a lot of cultural and ethnic diversity that can bewitch local and foreign tourists to always visit it.
However, as we know in Indonesian history that there were problems and conflicts that occurred when western Indonesia tried to join. Historically, many people in eastern Indonesia felt excluded from the rest of Indonesia.
For a long time, the problem of the western region of Indonesia has been a sensitive issue in the history of Indonesia’s history. Papua is also often the material that is very often mentioned in meetings for the welfare and development of the eastern region.
The problem began with the decision of the Round Table Conference held on December 24, 1946, where West Papua succeeded in gaining independence from the Netherlands and joining the Republic of Indonesia. People fighting for Papuan independence to be recognized.
In 2019 many residents and university students joined forces to block a number of roads in Manokwari. The community began to move to block around 08.00 WIT and this action hampered a number of main traffic access.
In addition to the actions carried out by the community, several roads were closed and paralyzed, the incident also made the surrounding community restless. Because many people flocked to join the demonstration and asked for the right to be independent.
Some people were even able to burn down the Provincial DPRD Building. The arson act was recognized as a spill of disappointment and regret towards their own country. The incident was also triggered by the siege of the Papuan student dormitory.
West Papua Journey in Gaining Recognition of Independence from Indonesia
The demonstrations carried out by the Manokwari community are a form of public anger towards the attention given to the eastern community. They are capable of firing tear gas and destroying several state facilities.
The independence desired by the Papuan people is solely the equality of treatment and facilities provided throughout the territory of Indonesia. They feel ignored and the increasingly chaotic economic situation continues in Papua.
In history, we know that the Round Table Conference resulted in the transfer of sovereignty from the Netherlands to Indonesia. However, the conference still leaves problems regarding the status of West Papua.
This issue has become a ticking time bomb for Indonesia and for the Papuan people themselves. Both the Indonesians and the Dutch still want to own the rights to the land of Papua. The Dutch wanted to take Papua as a territory from their country.
For the Dutch, western Papua or what they often call the Netherlands New Guinea, is not part of the territorial unit that must be returned to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. One of the strong reasons for the Dutch is that indigenous Papuans have differences.
The differences referred to by the Dutch are ethnic and racial differences in Papua against Indonesian society in general. Therefore, they wanted to make western Papua a separate country under the auspices of the Dutch kingdom.
Of course, the Indonesian people did not accept the statements and speculations of the Dutch people. Indonesia will continue to fight for the Papua region to be given independence and recognition as part of Indonesian territory.
Sovereignty and Recognition from the Indonesian State Must be Given to Papua
The riots that occurred between Indonesia and the Netherlands over the western part of Papua continued and no common ground was reached between the two sides. Therefore, the two parties made an agreement to resolve the problem within the next year.
Further negotiations between the two sides were held several times. However, the results obtained are still the same and have not found common ground. Since August 1945, the Dutch Indonesian Union, which was mandated in the KMB, was officially dissolved.
This made Indonesia failed in its attempt to take Papuan territory and issued a lenient motion regarding West Papua which was accepted by the United Nations in the same month. Indonesia has been trying to solve the West Irian problem for about 11 years
However, because the Dutch did not heed this, this issue continued and was brought to the UN forums in 1954, 1955, 1957, and 1960. In the 1961 UN general assembly the Dutch foreign minister made a proposal.
It is hoped that the proposal will put West Papua under the guardianship of the United Nations before a referendum is held. However, the UN General Assembly rejected the proposal submitted by the Dutch foreign minister. On January 2, 1962, through Presidential Decree No. 1/1962, President Sukarno finally formed the Mandala
