Papua is a unique island. It consists of two regions, which are West Papua and Papua New Guinea. The Western Papua is administratively part of Indonesia, whereas Papua New Guinea is a country. Let’s learn a bit about why it happens to West Papua New Guinea.
The Historical Background of West Papua New Guinea
The root of the problem started in December 1949 when the Netherlands agreed to recognize Indonesian sovereignty over the Dutch East Indies. The problem was that the agreement excluded Western New Guinea.
Dutch continued to hold this region and the Netherlands New Guinea. In 1962, the Dutch agreed to relinquish this territory through the New York Agreement. The Dutch wanted to create a vote to define the fate of Western New Guinea. The result stated that West Papua is part of Indonesia.
The Historical Background of Papua New Guinea
There was a different story between West Papua and Papua New Guinea. Unlike Western Papua, Papua New Guinea became a country and is not a part of Indonesia. That’s why you will see the separation between these two regions on the map.
The truth is that the Dutch never conquered Papua New Guinea and only the West part. On the other hand, Indonesia wanted to get all the islands that had been conquered by the Dutch. It means that Papua New Guinea is not included in the agreement.
It is also the reason why Papua New Guinea gets its independence, whereas West Papua doesn’t. Papua New Guinea was occupied by Germany, the UK, and Australia. Australia was the one that gave independence to Papua New Guinea in 1975. It is the reason why Western Papua uses Indonesian, whereas Papua New Guinea uses English as their first language.
The Reasons Why Western Papua Wants to be Independent
Due to the historical background above, West Papua wants to be Independent as Papua New Guinea. West Papua still argued that Indonesia colonizes its territories militarily. West Papuans also think that they are similar to Papua New Guinea in the sense of culture.
They feel harmed by the migrants from Indonesia. Migrants use the resources in Papua with all skills and knowledge they have. At the same time, the Indonesian government always uses foreign employees instead of the native Papuans to work and manage the resources.
West Papuans also argued that their region was not included in Indonesia when Indonesia received its independence. Due to this never-ending conflict West Papuans started to create organizations to fight against Indonesia and get their Independence, such as OPM and TPNPB.
The Way Indonesia Keeps West Papua
On the other hand, Indonesia tries to keep West Papua to be a part of Indonesia. The latest one is when Indonesia picks West Papua to be the host of Indonesia’s National Games Week. Jokowi as the president of Indonesia even appeared at the opening ceremony. It is an effort to show that West Papua is still part of Indonesia.
Conclusion
The explanation above explains that West Papua and Papua New Guinea are different in their historical background. It shows why West Papua becomes part of Indonesia, whereas Papua New Guinea is not.
This explanation is also an answer for those who are asking why Papua has two regions but in two different countries. Both West Papua and Papua New Guinea may have similar cultures, physical appearance, and others. Yet, they are different because of the regulation and agreements that has been made from many years ago.
It seems that Indonesia has to get close to West Papua even more. Picking this region as a host of a certain event is a good way to prevent West Papua to be independent.
