THE situation in West Papua is concerning.
The Australian Government should be strongly protesting to the Indonesian government about the human rights abuses that are taking place in West Papua.
We have Australian soldiers on the other side of the world in Iraq trying to spread freedom and democracy, but at the same time we are ignoring the lack of freedom and democracy right next door to us.
The Indonesian military engages in kidnappings, beatings, rape and murder in West Papua. The Australian Government should take a moral stand on this, not turn a blind eye and kowtow to Indonesia.
Indonesia is acting like a colonial power in West Papua. The Indonesian occupation of West Papua is very similar to the British occupation of Australia 200 years ago. 200 years ago Britain was overpopulated, so it sent its surplus population to Australia, and displaced the aborigines in the process.
The situation in West Papua is very similar. Indonesia is really a Javanese empire. West Papuans have an entirely different culture and set of languages from the Javanese. The central island of Java is heavily overpopulated. The Indonesian Government acknowledges that, and operates a transmigration program that resettles Javanese people into the outlying islands of Indonesia, including West Papua.
Many problems in Indonesia are caused by overpopulation. Land clearing and forest destruction are causing many species to be threatened, including the orang-utans. We have plenty of environmental problems in Australia, but the environmental problems in Indonesia are in a different league. There is widespread poverty in Indonesia.
The best way Australia could help Indonesia would be to provide them with family planning aid. The population is 240 million and rising. Overpopulation is an underlying cause of internal conflict in places like Ambon because it causes people to fight over diminishing resources.
The central Indonesian Government wants to control West Papua’s natural resources, while the West Papuans would rather be left in peace.
Tom Nilsson
Sandy Bay
