Activists risk arrest or worse to highlight abuses faced by West Papuans under Indonesian rule
A group of Australian and West Papuan activists will set sail
from Cairns on Saturday for the Indonesian territory of West Papua,
despite fears they could face arrest or worse for arriving in the
country illegally.
The West Papuan Freedom Flotilla will make the trip to highlight the abuses faced by West Papuans under Indonesian rule. It is estimated that as many as 500,000 Papuans have been killed since Indonesia acquired the territory in the 1960s.
Approximately 50 people will take turns crewing at least two yachts up the east coast of Australia, through the Torres Strait and on to Papua New Guinea, from where they hope to make the trip to Merauke on the southern coast of Papua.
Participants include Aboriginal elder Kevin Buzzacott and West Papuan leader Jacob Rumbiak and it has been described by organisers as an Indigenous cultural exchange.
But one of the participants acknowledges that the trip is also a potentially deadly act of resistance.
AP Stacey, 47, a former Australian soldier who will be on one of the boats, told the Guardian: "Because I've been in the military myself I probably have a better understanding than everybody else of what might happen if it goes pear-shaped.
"There are a number of possibilities. The Indonesian authorities could quite simply turn us back. They could arrest us. I guess the worse-case scenario is they could shoot us."
The Indonesian military and police opened fire on a peaceful protest gathering in the West Papuan capital of Jayapura in October 2011, killing at least six people and injuring dozens.
The Freedom Flotilla participants have been denied Indonesian visas and will be entering Indonesian waters without a sailing permit. They plan to land in Merauke within a fortnight.
The last time Australians arrived in Merauke unannounced and without the proper documentation they were detained in Indonesia for nine months.
The "Merauke five", as they became known, were reportedly looking for tourism opportunities in Indonesia when they landed their small plane in Merauke in September 2008, under the mistaken belief that they could obtain visas on arrival. The five Australians, all aged in their 50s and 60s, were originally given two- and three-year sentences for visa violations.
The Guardian spoke to one of the five, who issued words of warning for the flotilla participants, saying they should expect to be jailed if they turned up without documentation.
A spokesperson for the Freedom Flotilla, Nicky Stott, told the Guardian that they had gone "through all the proper channels" to apply to sail in Indonesian waters and while they were initially granted a permit, it had since been revoked.
"When we applied for our individual Indonesian visas we stated that our intention was to travel to West Papua for a cultural exchange between Indigenous people from Australia and indigenous people from West Papua," she told the Guardian.
"As soon as [the Indonesian government] became aware of that, we were told that our sailing permit had been revoked."
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Indonesian government had raised concerns about the Freedom Flotilla with the Australian government, but that the boats would not be prevented from leaving Australian waters.
Once they reached Indonesian territory it was a "matter for Indonesia" how they dealt with them, the spokesman said.
Papua provincial police spokesman I Gede Sumerta Jaya told the Guardian over the phone from Jayapura on Thursday that he had no idea a group of Australians were planning to arrive by boat without documentation in Merauke.
"We co-ordinate with the [Indonesian] immigration office regarding foreigners entering Indonesia. If they come in without a visa, that's obviously breaking the immigration regulation and we need to coordinate with immigration on that," he said.
Stacey told the Guardian that upon entering Indonesian territory the group would "just have to play it by ear, and hope that the Australian flag counts for something among the Indonesians, which I won't be betting money on.
"If Australia is to retain any sense of moral decency we must take a stand against what is being done right on our doorstep," he said.
By.. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/16/west-papuan-freedom-flotilla-indonesia
The West Papuan Freedom Flotilla will make the trip to highlight the abuses faced by West Papuans under Indonesian rule. It is estimated that as many as 500,000 Papuans have been killed since Indonesia acquired the territory in the 1960s.
Approximately 50 people will take turns crewing at least two yachts up the east coast of Australia, through the Torres Strait and on to Papua New Guinea, from where they hope to make the trip to Merauke on the southern coast of Papua.
Participants include Aboriginal elder Kevin Buzzacott and West Papuan leader Jacob Rumbiak and it has been described by organisers as an Indigenous cultural exchange.
But one of the participants acknowledges that the trip is also a potentially deadly act of resistance.
AP Stacey, 47, a former Australian soldier who will be on one of the boats, told the Guardian: "Because I've been in the military myself I probably have a better understanding than everybody else of what might happen if it goes pear-shaped.
"There are a number of possibilities. The Indonesian authorities could quite simply turn us back. They could arrest us. I guess the worse-case scenario is they could shoot us."
The Indonesian military and police opened fire on a peaceful protest gathering in the West Papuan capital of Jayapura in October 2011, killing at least six people and injuring dozens.
The Freedom Flotilla participants have been denied Indonesian visas and will be entering Indonesian waters without a sailing permit. They plan to land in Merauke within a fortnight.
The last time Australians arrived in Merauke unannounced and without the proper documentation they were detained in Indonesia for nine months.
The "Merauke five", as they became known, were reportedly looking for tourism opportunities in Indonesia when they landed their small plane in Merauke in September 2008, under the mistaken belief that they could obtain visas on arrival. The five Australians, all aged in their 50s and 60s, were originally given two- and three-year sentences for visa violations.
The Guardian spoke to one of the five, who issued words of warning for the flotilla participants, saying they should expect to be jailed if they turned up without documentation.
A spokesperson for the Freedom Flotilla, Nicky Stott, told the Guardian that they had gone "through all the proper channels" to apply to sail in Indonesian waters and while they were initially granted a permit, it had since been revoked.
"When we applied for our individual Indonesian visas we stated that our intention was to travel to West Papua for a cultural exchange between Indigenous people from Australia and indigenous people from West Papua," she told the Guardian.
"As soon as [the Indonesian government] became aware of that, we were told that our sailing permit had been revoked."
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Indonesian government had raised concerns about the Freedom Flotilla with the Australian government, but that the boats would not be prevented from leaving Australian waters.
Once they reached Indonesian territory it was a "matter for Indonesia" how they dealt with them, the spokesman said.
Papua provincial police spokesman I Gede Sumerta Jaya told the Guardian over the phone from Jayapura on Thursday that he had no idea a group of Australians were planning to arrive by boat without documentation in Merauke.
"We co-ordinate with the [Indonesian] immigration office regarding foreigners entering Indonesia. If they come in without a visa, that's obviously breaking the immigration regulation and we need to coordinate with immigration on that," he said.
Stacey told the Guardian that upon entering Indonesian territory the group would "just have to play it by ear, and hope that the Australian flag counts for something among the Indonesians, which I won't be betting money on.
"If Australia is to retain any sense of moral decency we must take a stand against what is being done right on our doorstep," he said.
By.. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/16/west-papuan-freedom-flotilla-indonesia
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