History recorded that West Papua integration into the Republic of Indonesia faced many conflicts and problems. Those were also related to Indonesia and Dutch that acted as rulers in Papua.
Both parties made several negotiations and discussions in their effort to claim the area. These included Round Table Conference (1949) and New York Agreement (1962). Those negotiations were accompanied by Indonesia and Dutch opposing each other.
Although West Papua has been integrated into the Republic of Indonesia since 1969, some remained opposing the idea. They created guerrilla and separatist groups to support their idea of disintegration. This gruesome situation was worsened by the racism they get from other groups.
There are a lot of challenges surrounding this integration idea. We need to address that by understanding the factors that make Papuan people refuse the idea so hard.
Negotiations That Only Drive West Papua People Away From Indonesia
Negotiations and discussions had been made. However, they also become the primary factors why those people maintain their will of liberty from Indonesia and the Dutch. To understand it, let’s take a look at the results of those negotiations.
Round Table Conference
The conference was meant to declare sovereignty transfer from the Dutch to Indonesia. It also regulated all matters about West Irian. However, the results of the conference could not stand as a reference. It did not regulate the political status of the West Irian.
The follow-up negotiation called Indonesia-Dutch Union Conference to regulate the West Irian place also failed. Another one called Special Conference did not reach a consensus. However, it resulted in the Dutch preparing Irian to be a free country called West Papua.
Trikora
To prevent the realization of a new country in Papua, Soekarno called Trikora. The action was taken to reclaim the West Irian back from the Dutch. This caused accelerated the New York Agreement between Indonesia and Dutch.
New York Agreement
The United States of America, through Elsworth Bunker, proposed a solution to end the conflict to the UN. The proposal worked. The Dutch government accepted the proposal under the conditions that the Indonesian government shall regard the Irian people’s rights.
The results of the agreement said that the Dutch should surrender its power over the West Irian to United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA). Then, UNTEA shall transfer the power over the West Irian to Indonesia, and before 1969 ends, Indonesia shall hold the Act of Free Choice (Pepera) under UN monitoring. The act gave Papuan people free choice whether to join the Indonesian government.
The Act of Free Choice
The act was started in Merauke and ended in Jayapura. It was held in eight cities in Irian. Those were Merauke, Jayawijaya, Paniai, Fak-fak, Sorong, Manokwari, Teluk Cendrawasih, and Jayapura. UN representative Dr. Fernando Ortiz-Sanz also attended the event. As many as 1,025 people were chosen among 815,906 to decide the future of Papua. Although the event was held peacefully, some demonstrations occurred in other areas.
Up to date, some people in West Papua did not accept the result of the act. Their objections were:
- The New York Agreement regulated that all men and women (approximately 600,000 adults) in Papua should vote.
- Pepera did not follow the one man, one vote principle. Rather than inviting everyone to vote, it asked representatives instead.
- Papuan people saw that the choosing of the Indonesian government as the sole administrator of Pepera was unfair. They argued that, as a troubled party, Indonesia did not have the right to administrate the event. The administration should be handed over to a third party.
- The Indonesian military force was proved to not only intimidate the society but also intervening in the process. A confidential letter was found, and it said that the voting should result in Papua people joined Indonesia.
The protest resulted in Congress II of West Papua. (https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/1003-ID-proses-integrasi-irian-barat-ke-dalam-nkri.pdf)
Collateral Damages
Besides the results of those negotiations, other factors worsened the relationship between the Indonesian government and the Papua people.
Social Integration
To reduce the tension, the Indonesian government ran social integration program. In running the program, they chose the immigration approach. However, the approach worsened the situation. It caused an imbalance in land acquisition and compensation, deforestation, malnutrition, and social segregation.
The defects were also seen in the security system. The government increases the number of military forces in the area, but the number of crimes also kept increasing. Nduga shooting perpetrator had not been found up to date. The integration only created a huge gap between Papua people and Indonesia as well as other communities.
Development
The Indonesian government always tried to obtain the trust of the West Papua people. One method they used was by developing the area. The government was keen to develop Papua and make it as developed as the other regions. However, Papua people saw it differently.
In the beginning, they did not demand development; they demanded their liberation. It was stated in the result of congress II. Their demands included community empowerment, human rights violation settlement, and the formation of political parties. Integrasi sosial kunci selesaikan persoalan Papua secara tuntas dan bermartabat (theconversation.com)
Those challenges make West Papua integration into the Republic of Indonesia hard and keep the conflicts existing.
